REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE VISA INFORMATION SYSTEM (VIS) IN 2009 (submitted in response to the obligation under Article 6 of Council Decision 2004/512/EC)
Date: 2010-10-22
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU visa policy, admission of aliens, border control, data protection, disclosure of information, exchange of information, free movement of persons, information system

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 22.10.2010 
COM(2010) 588 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE VISA INFORMATION SYSTEM (VIS) IN 2009 
(submitted in response to the obligation under Article 6 of Council Decision 
2004/512/EC) 

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   EN 

 
 
  
Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the 
development of the Visa Information System (VIS) 

Progress Report January – December 2009 
(COM (2010) 588 final) 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. 

2. 

2.1. 

2.2. 

2.3. 

2.4. 

2.5. 

2.6. 

3. 

3.1. 

3.2. 

Introduction .................................................................................................................. 3 

Progress during the period under review ..................................................................... 3 

Development of the Central System – technical deliverables...................................... 3 

Development of the Biometric Matching System (BMS)............................................ 4 

Site Preparations and Network..................................................................................... 4 

Member States' National Planning............................................................................... 4 

Rescheduling the VIS................................................................................................... 5 

Roll-out to consular posts and external border-crossing points ................................... 6 

Project management ..................................................................................................... 7 

Legal framework for the VIS ....................................................................................... 7 

Commission project management ................................................................................ 8 

3.2.1.  Planning and budget..................................................................................................... 8 

3.2.2.  Risk management ......................................................................................................... 8 

3.2.3.  Project management board (PMB)............................................................................... 9 

3.3. 

Friends of the VIS ........................................................................................................ 9 

4. 

5. 

5.1. 

5.2. 

5.3. 

5.4. 

5.5. 

Conclusion.................................................................................................................. 10 

Annex: VIS working groups ...................................................................................... 11 

SISVIS Committee..................................................................................................... 11 

VIS National Project Managers (NPM) meetings...................................................... 11 

Change Management Board (CMB) .......................................................................... 11 

Test Advisory Group (TAG)...................................................................................... 11 

VIS Mail Expert Group (VIS MEG).......................................................................... 11 

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1. 

INTRODUCTION 

The Commission, in accordance with Article 6  of  Council  Decision 2004/512/EC  of  8 June 
2004  establishing  the  Visa  Information  System1,  presents  to  the  Council  and  the  European 
Parliament  the  sixth  progress  report  on  the  development  of  the  Visa  Information  System 
(VIS)2.  The  report  covers  the  work  carried  out  by  the  Commission  between  January  and 
December 2009.  

As  regards  compliance  testing  with  Member  States  and  development  of  most  national 
systems,  the  VIS  project  progressed  smoothly.  By  the  end  of  2009,  compliance  testing  had 
been completed with 22 out of 25 current Schengen Associated States at a 100% success rate. 
Compliance tests remain to be executed only by a few Member States before the final testing 
phase in 2010. 

However,  the  tests  related  to  VIS  at  central  level  in  2009  proved  to  be  challenging.  The 
technical development of the VIS and Biometric Matching System (BMS) entered the second 
of  four  testing  phases  in  April  2009  –  the  Systems  Solutions  Test  (SST).  The  Main 
Development Contractor (MDC) failed to meet the exit criteria for the first attempt to carry 
out the test, which led to a second and third test campaign during the reporting period. The 
delay with the SST affected the start of the subsequent testing phases involving the Member 
States.  

In parallel, other factors also impacted the re-scheduling of the project, including a significant 
delay at national level for at least one Member State. The December 2009 target date for start 
of operations of the VIS could therefore no longer hold.  

After  a  presentation  to  the  "Friends  of  the  VIS"  and  Strategic  Committee  on  Immigration, 
Frontiers  and  Asylum  (SCIFA)  in  November  2009,  the  following  new  global  schedule  was 
presented to the JHA Council on 30 November 2009: 

•  Start of Operational Systems Test (OST) - February 2010 

•  Provisional Systems Acceptance Test (PSAT) - September 2010  

•  Central system readiness test - October 2010  

•  Start of operations of VIS - December 2010.  

2. 

PROGRESS DURING THE PERIOD UNDER REVIEW 

2.1. 

Development of the Central System – technical deliverables 

Based  on  the  agreement  obtained  in  December  2008  to  implement  four  functional  changes 
requested  by  Member  States,  both  the  Interface  Control  Document  (ICD)  and  the  Detailed 
Technical Specification (DTS) needed to be updated. The final version of the ICD 1.82 was 
accepted  in  March  2009.  These  are  the  technical  specifications  used  by  Member  States  to 
develop  their  own  national  systems  to  be  able  to  connect  to  the  VIS.  The  DTS  has  been 

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OJ L 213 of 15.6.2004, p. 5. 
For the fifth report, see the Report from the Commission to the Council and European Parliament on the 
development of the Visa Information System (VIS) in 2008, COM(2009) 473 final of 15.09.2009. 

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finalised  but  can  only  be  formally  accepted  after  the  pending  security  target  issues  are 
resolved,  which  is  planned  for  mid-2010.  The  CD  simulator  was  updated  several  times  and 
most recently in September.  

2.2. 

Development of the Biometric Matching System (BMS)  

The  BMS,  which  will  provide  fingerprint  matching  services  to  the  VIS,  was  largely 
implemented  according  to  the  project  plan  during  the  reporting  period,  and  the  Systems 
Solutions Test (SST) for BMS was carried out successfully in March 2009. Since that point, 
the  system  has  been  supporting  the  VIS  SST,  while  performing  its  own  OST,  without  any 
issues until November when some operational problems were encountered. These included a 
delay  in  the  BMS  switchover  procedure  during  VIS  failover  tests,  issues  with  the  Oracle 
database  and  BMS  transaction  performance.  The  root  causes  for  each  issue  were  identified 
and  presented  to  Member  States  along  with  the  solutions  implemented.  Member  States  also 
continued  to  use  the  software  kits  provided  by  the  BMS  contractor  in  their  fingerprint 
capturing devices, as well as the BMS web portal for their national biometric implementation.  

Following  discussions  in  the  SISVIS  Committee  meeting  (VIS  formation)  the  Commission 
adopted in October 2009 a Decision3 laying down specifications for the resolution and use of 
fingerprints for biometric identification and verification in the Visa Information System. 

2.3. 

Site Preparations and Network 

Throughout 2009, staff members at the Central Unit and Backup Central Unit in Strasbourg 
and Salzburg respectively were trained on the use and maintenance of the VIS equipment.  

The  network  remained  to  be  installed  in  only  two  Member  States  during  2009.  The  main 
projects  for  2009  concerning  the  network  were  to  secure  the  operations  of  the  "failover 
mechanism" from the primary site to the backup site and to set up the VIS Mail Relay. This 
mechanism  is  required  in  case  the  national  system  fails  and  the  backup  system  takes  over 
operations  temporarily.  The  deployment  of  the  network  to  one  main  site  and  three  backup 
sites in Member States was completed between March and July. The "failover exercise" was 
successfully completed in five Member States by  October. In nine  other Member  States the 
appropriate technical solution was still to be determined. The exercise will continue for those 
Member States that are interested in implementing this solution.  

2.4.  Member States' National Planning 

Apart from the availability of the central VIS, the key dependency for the system becoming 
operational  is  the  progress  of  national  projects.  The  state  of  progress  varies  between  the 
Member States, due to different circumstances at national level.  

Through the monthly reporting mechanism developed in the framework of the Friends of the 
VIS (see section 3.2.4.), most Member States consistently reported their progress as being on 
time to achieve the targeted milestones. In the reports it also became apparent that a number 
of  Member  States  encountered  difficulties  with  the  development  of  their  national  systems. 
Nevertheless,  the  vast  majority  of  Member  States  had  successfully  completed  their 

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Commission  Decision  of  9  October  2009  laying  down  specifications  for  the  resolution  and  use  of 
fingerprints for biometric identification and verification in the Visa Information System (OJ L 270 of 15 
October 2009) 

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compliance  tests  and  were  prepared  for  the  start  of  OST  and  PSAT.  By  the  end  of  the 
reporting  period,  224  out  of  25  current  Member  States  and  Schengen  Associated  Countries 
had completed their compliance tests as initially planned. 

In 2009, FRONTEX invited Member States' experts to Warsaw to participate in several VIS-
related workshops. These workshops were  attended by representatives of  26 Member States 
and  Schengen  Associated  Countries  and  aimed  to  aid  in  the  implementation  of  the  VIS  by 
fostering  the  sharing  of  experiences  among  Member  States.  The  results  of  the  workshops, 
presented  at  the  Friends  of  the  VIS  meetings  as  well  as  at  the  last  NPM  meeting  of  the 
reporting  period,  showed  that  Member  States  are  still  at  different  stages  of  project 
development nationally and allowed for a number of issues to be identified and followed up. 

2.5. 

Rescheduling the VIS 

The  re-scheduling  of  the  VIS  project  occurred  due  to  delays  at  both  central  and  national 
levels.  

Central level 

From a central level perspective, the MDC began the SST on 20 April 2009. In mid-June the 
assessment  of  the  SST  results  indicated  that  the  exit  criteria  were  not  met  due  to  various 
technical  issues,  concerning  functional  and  non-functional  aspects  of  the  system.  It  became 
clear  that  the  SST  would  not  be  completed  by  the  time  OST  was  scheduled  to  start  in  July 
2009. The SST phase was therefore extended to the end of September 2009. In their official 
SST report, the MDC claimed that exit criteria had been met contrary to the assessment by the 
Commission,  the  Quality  Assurance  contractor,  as  well  as  the  Member  State  experts  in  the 
Test Advisory Group (TAG). 

In October, the MDC proposed to implement certain corrective measures in order to meet the 
performance  requirements  of  the  system  as  well  as  to  lower  the  service-level  agreement 
(SLA)  on  performance.  Member  States  assessed  the  impact  of  these  measures  on  their 
national systems and agreed at the end of the reporting period that the MDC shall implement 
these measures. At the same time, it was agreed to de-couple the corrective measures from the 
discussion  on  lowering  the  service-level  agreement  (SLA).  Once  corrective  measures  are 
implemented  and  tested,  the  MDC  will  re-submit a  proposal  for  an  SLA.  By  the  end  of  the 
reporting period these corrective measures had not yet been fully implemented and tested.  

In  the  meantime  and  pending  the  acceptance  of  the  corrective  measures  by  Member  State 
experts,  the  MDC  continued  its  efforts  to  remedy  the  blocking  technical  issues  and 
subsequently  submitted  a  new  report  on  the  SST  in  November.  Although  results  had 
improved,  they  were  still  not  satisfactory  especially  as  regards  performance  aspects. 
Consequently,  by  the  end  of  the  reporting  period  the  exit  criteria  for  the  SST  were  still  not 
met. As a result, contractual penalties were applied.  

National level 

From  a  national  perspective,  in  2009,  the  Commission  also  learned  that  one  Member  State 
experienced  major  contractual  setbacks  with  the  development  of  its  national  system,  and 

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Liechtenstein  had  also  completed  its  compliance  tests  technically,  but  it  does  not  yet  apply  the 
Schengen acquis 

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would not be ready to connect to the VIS until the end of 2010. This particular Member State 
has not yet confirmed its slot for compliance testing. Two other Member States experienced 
some  delays  of  a  less  significant  nature  with  the  development  of  their  national  system.  In 
order to start operations, all Member States need to be connected to the VIS. Therefore, the 
delay of one Member State immediately affects the starting date of operations of the VIS.  

All of these issues together impacted the planned date for the start of operations of the VIS 
and a new schedule needed to be prepared. The main elements of the new VIS Master Project 
Schedule were presented in SCIFA and at the JHA Council in November and December and 
the Council took note of the new schedule, which declares central system readiness in October 
2010 after the acceptance of the PSAT. Due to the significant delay in one Member State, and 
to the delays caused by the MDC regarding the SST, however, VIS will not be able to start 
operations before December 2010.  

2.6. 

Roll-out to consular posts and external border-crossing points 

According  to  the  adopted  Visa  Code,  Member  States  shall  collect  biometric  identifiers 
comprising the facial image and ten fingerprints from visa applicants at their consular posts. 
In preparation for the rollout in consular posts, several Member States have continued to test 
the  capturing  of  biometrics  for  visa  applications  at  a  number  of  consular  posts.  The  pilot 
project  for  the  capture,  storage  and  verification  of  biometric  data  from  visa  applicants 
(BIODEV  II)  ran  until  the  second  quarter  of  2009  and  a  few  of  the  participating  Member 
States  continued  to  test  capturing  procedures  throughout  the  course  of  2009  aiming  to 
improve the quality of the captured fingerprints. 

Results  have  shown  that  obtaining  good  quality  fingerprints  from  visa  applicants  requires 
extensive  training  of  operators  and  possible  re-capturing  in  order  to  reduce  failure  to  enrol 
rates. Most Member States have already equipped their consular posts in North Africa to be 
able to capture fingerprints and photographs of visa applicants, and are preparing to equip the 
subsequent regions. 

Intense discussion on the determination of the first regions was held in the SISVIS Committee 
meetings  throughout  2009.  In  accordance  with  Article  48  of  the  VIS  Regulation,5  the 
Commission shall determine the sequence of the regions for the VIS consular deployment, on 
the basis of three criteria: the risk of illegal immigration, the threats to the internal security of 
the  Member  States  and  the  feasibility  of  collecting  biometrics  from  all  locations  in  that 
particular region. After several months of discussion, the Commission Decision6 determining 
the first regions for the start of operations of the VIS was adopted on 30 November 2009. The 
first region will be North Africa, followed by the Near East and the Gulf Region. Subsequent 
regions  for  the  rollout  of  the  VIS  will  be  determined  by  separate  Decisions  after  another 
evaluation has taken place in accordance with the above criteria. 

As concerns visas issued at the external border, external border-crossing points are considered 
to constitute a separate region. Therefore, the collection and transmission of data to the VIS 
from borders will begin as soon as Member States notify the Commission that they have made 

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Regulation (EC) No 767/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 July 2008 concerning 
the  Visa  Information  System  (VIS)  and  the  exchange  of  data  between  Member  States  on  short-stay 
visas (VIS Regulation) – OJ L 218 of 13.08.2008, p.60 
Commission Decision of 30 November 2009 determining the first regions for the start of operations of 
the Visa Information System (OJ L 23 of 27 January 2010, p. 62). 

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the necessary technical and legal arrangements to collect and transmit data to the VIS on all 
visa applications handled at their own external border-crossing points. 

3. 

PROJECT MANAGEMENT 

3.1. 

Legal framework for the VIS 

In  2009,  the  legal  instruments  required  before  the  VIS  begins  operations,  namely  the 
amendments  to  the  Schengen  Borders  Code7  and  the  Common  Consular  Instructions8,  were 
adopted  and  published  in  February  and  May  2009,  respectively.  The  amendment  to  the 
Schengen  Borders  Code  provides  that  the  use  of  the  VIS  for  entry  checks  at  the  external 
borders will be compulsory from twenty days after the start of operations in the first region. 
The use of the VIS should entail a systematic search in the VIS using the visa sticker number 
in  combination  with  a  verification  of  fingerprints.  However,  during  a  three-year  transition 
period,  it  should  be  possible  for  Member  States  to  use  the  VIS  without  verification  of  the 
fingerprints. The amendment of the Common Consular Instructions was necessary in order to 
establish a legal framework for the collection of biometric identifiers, including provisions on 
the  organisation  of  the  reception  and  processing  of  visa  applications.  These  provisions  are 
incorporated  in  the  Visa  Code9,  adopted  in  July,  which  repeals  the  Common  Consular 
Instructions and will be applicable from 5 April 2010.  

Several  Commission  Decisions  related  to  the  VIS  were  adopted  under  the  comitology 
procedure  during  the  reporting  period.  The  Commission  Decision  on  the  VIS  Mail 
specifications10, which will replace the VISION consultation mechanism, was adopted in May 
2009. The second biometrics Decision11 relating to the resolution and use of fingerprints for 
identification and verification in the VIS and Biometric Matching System (BMS) was adopted 
in  October  2009.  A  Commission  Decision12  determining  the  first  regions  for  the  start  of 
operations of the VIS was adopted on 30 November 2009, at the same time as the Decision on 
technical implementing measures13 setting out various data processing operations in the VIS.  

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Regulation  (EC)  No  81/2009  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  14  January  2009 
amending Regulation (EC) No 562/2006 as regards the use of the Visa Information System (VIS) under 
the Schengen Borders Code (OJ L 35 of 4 February 2009, p. 56); 
Regulation  (EC)  No  390/2009  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  23  April  2009 
amending  the  Common  Consular  Instructions  on  visas  for  diplomatic  missions  and  consular  posts  in 
relation to the introduction of biometric including provisions on the organisation of the reception and 
processing of visa applications (OJ L 131 of 28 May 2009, p. 1); 
Regulation  (EC)  No  810/2009  of  the  European  parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  13  July  2009 
establishing a Community Code on Visas (Visa Code) (OJ L 243 of 15 September 2008, p. 1). 
Commission  Decision  2009/377/EC  of  5  May  2009  adopting  implementing  measures  for  the 
consultation  mechanism  and  the  other  procedures  referred  to  in  Article  16  of  Regulation  (EC)  No 
767/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the Visa Information System (VIS) 
and the exchange of data between Member States on short-stay visas (VIS Regulation) (OJ L 117 of 12 
May 2009); 
Commission  Decision  of  9  October  2009  laying  down  specifications  for  the  resolution  and  use  of 
fingerprints for biometric identification and verification in the Visa Information System (OJ L 270 of 15 
October 2009) 
Commission Decision of 30 November 2009 determining the first regions for the start of operations of 
the Visa Information System (OJ L 23 of 27 January 2010, p. 62). 
Commission Decision of 30 November 2009 adopting technical implementing measures for entering the 
data  and  linking  applications,  for  accessing  the  data,  for  amending,  deleting  and  advance  deleting  of 
data  and  for  keeping  and  accessing  the  records  of  data  processing  operations  in  the  Visa  Information 
System (OJ L 315 of 2 December 2009, p.30) 

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One outstanding legislative instrument concerning security in the VIS remains to be adopted 
in 2010.  

3.2. 

Commission project management 

3.2.1.  Planning and budget 

The  total  available  commitment  appropriations  for  the  VIS  in  2009  amounted  to 
€ 38.3 million.  The  main  components  of  expend iture  during  2009  were  the  preparation  of 
additional  features  for  biometrics,  external  assistance  for  project  management  and  quality 
assurance, exploitation costs for the development and testing phases, and changes to the VIS 
(due mostly to Member State change requests). 74.65% of the total VIS appropriations were 
committed and 76.53% of payment appropriations had been paid by the end of the reporting 
period. The budget line for the VIS is 18.02.05. 

VIS Commitment and Payment appropriations 2009 

Consumed14 

Available 
commitment 
appropriations 

Total %  Available 
payment 
appropriations 

Consumed 

Total % 

€38.315.328,00 

€28.601.077,00  74,65% 

€27.216.095,14 

€20.828.088,00  76,53% 

The Commission notified the MDC of the launch of penalties, as from 15 June 2009, due to 
the incapacity of this contractor to run the SST successfully, on time, and within contractual 
obligations. The total amount of the penalties is to date € 7.6 million.  15 

3.2.2.  Risk management  

The  methodology  for  managing  risks  in  the  project  changed  somewhat  during  the  reporting 
period as there were only three VIS Project Management Board meetings held in 2009. This 
forum  was  initially  used  to  discuss  risks  with  the  Member  States  and  MDC.  The  three 
separate  risk  logs  approach  was  changed  in  the  second  quarter  of  the  reporting  period  and 
instead  each  month  the  Commission  identified  the  most  important  risks  in  the  project  and 
presented them to Member States at the monthly National Project Managers' meetings.  

Furthermore, in the context of the Friends of the VIS, the Swedish Presidency proposed the 
creation of a consolidated risk list; the Commission worked together with the Presidency to 
determine  the  main  risks  and  to  categorise  them  according  to  their  impact  on  the  project. 
Risks are adjusted each month in accordance with any changes to the severity of their impact. 
Actions are identified for each risk in order to mitigate them. These risks and corresponding 
actions are then presented by the Presidency to the Member States in the Friends of the VIS 
meetings, where they are discussed openly and transparently.  

The  Commission  also  maintains  a  high-level  register  and  follows  up  the  implementation  of 
actions.  

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The Draft Budget 2011 adopted by the Commission on 27 April 2010 specifies the consumed amount of 
commitment  appropriations  to  be  €37,601,077  for  2009.  Due  to  the  shift  of  dates  of  some  project 
activities  originally  planned  for  2009,  the  amount  of  €9,000,000  had  to  be  pre-committed  for 
consumption in 2010.  
The recovery order for the exact amount of penalties (€ 7,635,000) was issu ed on 30 March 2010. 

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At the end of 2009, the most critical risks identified were the following: (i) failure to deliver 
VIS  in  time  for  technical,  legal  or  contractual  reasons  and  the  possible  reputational  impact, 
(ii)  difficulties  in  resource  and  financial  planning  at  central  and  national  levels  due  to 
additional  delays  to  the  VIS  start  of  operations,  (iii)  the  risk  of  not  achieving  the  original 
performance requirements, and (iv) finally the contractual impact of SIS II on the VIS. The 
first three risks remain stable while the severity of the fourth one was decreased at the end of 
the  reporting  period.  For  all  risks,  mitigation  actions  are  identified  and  the  Commission, 
Member  States,  and  MDC  work  closely  together  to  limit  the  impact  of  these  risks  on  the 
project.  

Despite  the  mitigation  actions  taken  by  the  Commission,  it  was  evident  that  the  originally 
agreed performance level requirements would not be achieved by the MDC; therefore, it was 
expected that the problems related to the Systems Solutions System would continue into 2010.  

3.2.3.  Project management board (PMB) 

In 2009, the PMB met twice in the beginning of the year to discuss VIS project management 
issues and risks with project stakeholders, the MDC and the quality assurance contractor, in 
addition to the previous and forthcoming Member State Presidencies. A third PMB was held 
in December between the MDC and the Commission in order to discuss the SST state of play, 
the change request on corrective measures, the future change request on lowering the Service 
Level  Agreement  (SLA)  and  the  amendment  of  the  contract  in  order  to  include  Operational 
Management preparatory activities.  

3.3. 

Friends of the VIS  

The  Friends  of  the  VIS  met  nine  times  during  the  reporting  period  –  four  times  under  the 
Czech Presidency (2009/I) and five times under the Swedish Presidency (2009/II). The high-
level informal meetings provided a forum in which discussions could be held transparently on 
all  VIS-related  matters.  The  agenda  was  set  by  the  Presidency  in  coordination  with  the 
Commission  and  the  General  Secretariat  of  the  Council.  The  topics  generally  included  an 
update by the Commission on the VIS state of play, the new reporting mechanism on national 
progress,  the  rollout  to  consular  posts  in  the  first  regions,  the  possibility  of  developing  a 
centralised information campaign, risk management and the VIS-related workshops hosted by 
FRONTEX.  

In the Friends of the VIS group, a new reporting mechanism in the form of a questionnaire 
was created as a tool for following progress in Member States in relation to their  technical, 
consular  and  border  preparations.  This  tool  replaced  the  monthly  progress  reports  that  were 
customarily completed by VIS National Project Managers and the questionnaire was split into 
static and time-related questions towards the end of the reporting period. The questions cover 
general  technical  preparation  concerning  the  development  of  their  national  system,  consular 
preparations  for  rollout  in  the  first  regions  and  border  preparations  in  relation  to  checking 
biometrics against the VIS. More specific questions on training and other milestones are also 
included in the questionnaire. Several Member States did not provide clear dates for achieving 
the  specific  milestones,  which  did  not  allow  the  Commission  to  have  a  complete  picture  of 
progress in all Member States.  

A consolidated Risk List is prepared each month by the Presidency and the Commission prior 
to  the  meeting  and  the  current  top  ten  risks  to  the  project  are  categorised  according  to  the 
severity of their impact. 

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The  organisation  of  a  centralised  information  campaign  was  discussed  in  the  Friends  of  the 
VIS meetings during the first semester of 2009. However, the discussion was postponed given 
the  delay  in  the  initial  planning  for  the  start  of  operations  and  the  Commission's  legal 
obligations of providing information to visa applicants as laid down in the Visa Code.  

Intensive discussion was held on the determination of the sequence of the first regions for the 
consular rollout of the VIS. The reflections of the group were input into the various drafts of 
the relevant decision before this received a positive opinion by the SISVIS Committee. 

4. 

CONCLUSION 

During the reporting period (January – December 2009) four implementing measures for VIS 
were adopted by the Commission, including the Decision determining the first regions for the 
start of operations of the VIS. 

The  year  was  characterised  by  intensive  testing,  during  which  the  vast  majority  of  Member 
States successfully completed their compliance tests, a precondition for entering the final test 
phase before VIS enters into operations. 

At  central  level,  the  technical  development  of  the  VIS  entered  the  second  of  four  testing 
phases  in  April  2009,  the  Systems  Solutions  Test.  At  this  stage  the  Main  Development 
Contractor  encountered  a  series  of  technical  problems,  both  functional  and  non-functional, 
which relate to the performance of the system.  

At  national  level,  one  Member  State  has  reported  significant  contractual  problems  with  the 
development  of  their  national  system.  These  problems  will  not  allow  this  Member  State  to 
connect to the VIS before December 2010.  

A new global schedule was presented to the JHA Council in November 2009, which would 
lead to a planned go-live of the VIS in December 2010. All stakeholders in the project have 
reaffirmed their commitment to working closely together towards the entry into operation of 
VIS. 

In parallel, the Commission has informed the LIBE Committee of the European Parliament on 
a  regular  basis  regarding  the  development  and  state  of  play  of  the  VIS  project  and  will 
continue to do so in the future. 

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5. 

ANNEX: VIS WORKING GROUPS 

5.1. 

SISVIS Committee 

There  were  five  meetings  of  the  SISVIS  Committee  in  the  VIS  formation16  in  2009,  during 
which  four  draft  Commission  Decisions  were  discussed.  Specifically,  the  draft  Commission 
Decisions concerning the VIS Mail specifications, the first regions for rollout of the VIS, the 
specifications  for  the  resolution  and  use  of  fingerprints  for  biometric  identification  and 
verification in the VIS, and the technical implementing measures were all discussed and voted 
on during these meetings, all with a positive opinion. The Committee will remain responsible 
for taking any outstanding VIS-related comitology decisions in 2010.  

5.2. 

VIS National Project Managers (NPM) meetings 

During  the  reporting  period,  eleven  expert  group  meetings  for  the  Member  States’  National 
Project  Managers  (NPM)  were  organised  by  Commission  services  in  order  to  discuss  the 
status of the VIS project at central level, detailed technical issues, planning issues, risks and 
activities at central and national project levels.  

5.3. 

Change Management Board (CMB) 

The CMB, an advisory working group of the SISVIS Committee (VIS formation) met only in 
January  and  March  during  2009.  The  CMB  made  recommendations  on  the  configuration 
management  of  VIS  during  the  development  phase,  including  testing  and  discussed  as  well 
change requests.  

5.4. 

Test Advisory Group (TAG) 

The  TAG,  an  advisory  working  group  of  the  SISVIS  Committee  (VIS  formation)  met  quite 
frequently  or  held  conference  calls  during  the  reporting  period  due  to  the  intensive  testing 
period.  The  TAG  ensures  that  a  structured  process  is  used  to  address  and  resolve  testing-
related  issues  and  advises  on  the  completion  of  VIS  testing  campaigns.  It  makes 
recommendations on the testing of VIS during all test phases especially where Member States 
participate directly.  

5.5. 

VIS Mail Expert Group (VIS MEG) 

The group met on a monthly basis throughout the reporting period with the aim to support the 
implementation of the VIS communication mechanism (VIS Mail).  

Significant  progress  was  achieved  throughout  2009  with  the  testing  and  connection  of 
Member  States  to  the  communications  mechanism.  The  Central  Mail  Relay  solution  was 
implemented during this reporting period and VIS MEG participants agreed that it had been 
sufficiently tested and proved to be operational in accordance with basic requirements. For the 
national implementation, all 25 participating Member States were preparing to complete VIS 
Mail Phase 1, in order to start together with the VIS. 

16 

Set  up  by  Article 51(1)  of  Regulation (EC)  No  1987/2006  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council  of  20 December 2006  on  the  establishment,  operation  and  use  of  the  second  generation 
Schengen Information System (SIS II). 

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The  draft  Commission  Decision17  on  the  VIS  Mail  Specifications  was  submitted  to  the 
SISVIS Committee (VIS formation) in January 2009, and the Committee delivered a positive 
opinion on the Decision at this meeting. The Decision was adopted by the Commission on 5 
May 2009. 

The work of the Commission and the Member States on VIS Mail is performed in cooperation 
with  the  Network  Contractor  and  is  supported  by  the  Support  and  Quality  Assistance 
Contractor.  

17 

Commission Decision of 5 May 2009 adopting implementing measures for the consultation mechanism 
and  other  procedures  referred  to  in  Article  16  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  767/2008  of  the  European 
Parliament and of the Council concerning the Visa Information System (VIS) and the exchange of data 
between Member States on short-stay visas (VIS Regulation) 

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