REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL PROGRESS REPORT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SECOND GENERATION SCHENGEN INFORMATION SYSTEM (SIS II) _July 2010 - December 2010_
Date: 2011-06-29
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, Schengen Information System, border control, exchange of information, information system

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 29.6.2011 
COM(2011) 391 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

PROGRESS REPORT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SECOND GENERATION 
SCHENGEN INFORMATION SYSTEM (SIS II) _July 2010 - December 2010_ 

 
 
 
 
  
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. 

2. 

2.1. 

2.2. 

2.3. 

2.4. 

2.5. 

2.6. 

2.7. 

3. 

3.1. 

3.2. 

Introduction .................................................................................................................. 2 

Project Status................................................................................................................ 2 

Overview of progress during the period under review................................................. 2 

Contractual framework for finalising the project......................................................... 3 

Preparations for an alternative technical solution ........................................................ 4 

Preparations for migration............................................................................................ 5 

SIS II network .............................................................................................................. 6 

Operational management ............................................................................................. 6 

Security ........................................................................................................................ 6 

Management................................................................................................................. 7 

Financial implications .................................................................................................. 7 

Project management ..................................................................................................... 8 

3.2.1.  Global Programme Management Board (GPMB)........................................................ 8 

3.2.2.  SISVIS Committee (SIS II).......................................................................................... 9 

3.2.3.  National planning and coordination ............................................................................. 9 

3.2.4.  Council ......................................................................................................................... 9 

3.2.5.  European Parliament .................................................................................................. 10 

4. 

5. 

Priorities for the next reporting period....................................................................... 10 

Conclusions ................................................................................................................ 11 

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1. 

INTRODUCTION  

This  progress  report  describes  the  work  carried  out  in  the  second  semester  of  2010, 
concerning the development of the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) 
and preparations for migration from SIS 1+ to SIS II. It is presented to the Council and the 
European  Parliament  in  accordance  with  Article  18  of  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No 
1104/2008  and  of  Council  Decision  2008/839/JHA  on  migration  from  the  Schengen 
Information System (SIS 1+) to the SIS II.  

2. 

PROJECT STATUS  

2.1. Overview of progress during the period under review 

The JHA Council of 3-4 June 2010 set the scene for the significant progress achieved in the 
SIS II project during the second semester of 2010. During this period, the Commission's and 
Member States' experts worked intensively to finalise the refined requirements for the system 
and  to  draw  up  the  outline  of  a  realistic  draft  schedule.  Valuable  workshops  and  meetings, 
gathering  together  all  stakeholders'  experts,  took  place  to  highlight  the  areas  in  which  the 
requirements  of  SIS  II  had  to  evolve  in  line  with  end-users'  needs,  taking  into  account  the 
need  to  safeguard  investments  in  SIS  II  made  at  national  level.  Several  elements  of  this 
evolution were significant, not least the need to provide a system about five times the size of 
the  system  originally  envisaged  (from  15-22  million  alerts  in  the  initial  contract  to  70-100 
million alerts now required) and yet which still delivers operationally-oriented performance. 

Following  a  thorough  assessment  conducted  by  all  stakeholders'  experts,  a  broad  consensus 
was  reached  both  on  the  revised  system  requirements  and  future  test  approach,  and  on  the 
outline of the global schedule. On this basis, SIS II is expected to become operational during 
the first quarter of 2013.  

Once  the  requirements  for  the  system  had  been  stabilised,  the  Commission  undertook 
negotiations  with  its  main  development  contractor  to  achieve  the  required  contractual 
coverage,  with  a  view  to  closing  the  gap  between  the  description  of  deliverables  in  the 
original  contract and those made necessary by the migration legal instruments of 20081 and 
the  evolution  of  end-users'  needs.  Complex  negotiations  took  place  from  August  to  mid-
September in order to clarify the exact content of the services to be delivered and achieve a 
financially  sound  offer  from  the  contractor.  Ultimately  the  negotiations  proved  successful. 
The corresponding budget for completing the project remains fully in line with the budgetary 
envelope for SIS II approved for the period 2007-2013. 

Although the final specifications for the system have been jointly designed and agreed with 
Member States' experts in such a way as to preserve previous investments, national systems 
nevertheless also require some upgrade, notably to meet the significantly updated capacity of 
the  system.  Seeking  to  accommodate  any  extended  SIS  II-related  resource  implications  for 
Member  States,  the  Commission  endeavoured  to  be  fully  flexible  in  adapting  the  national 
annual programmes of the European External Borders' Fund (EBF). SIS II is indeed one of the 

1 

Regulation (EC) No 1104/2008, as amended by Regulation (EU) No 541/2010, and Council Decision 
2008/839/JHA as amended by Regulation (EU) No 542/2010 

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strategic priorities for the EBF, allowing Member States to benefit from EU co-financing of 
up to 75%. 

In this context, on 7-8 October 2010, the JHA Council reaffirmed that the entry into operation 
of SIS II remained an absolute priority, requiring a joint effort and the close cooperation of 
the Member States and the Commission. Further, the Council took note of the global schedule 
and budget for the entry into operation of SIS II, as confirmed by the Commission in a report2 
submitted to the meeting, and called upon all the stakeholders to do their utmost to ensure that 
the project was fully implemented within the time schedule and financial plan. The Council 
also welcomed the possibility, offered by the Commission, to make the EBF available to the 
Member States to support the completion of the national elements of the system and recalled 
that the contingency plan based on the further development of C.SIS 1+ needed to be retained 
until the tests defined in the second milestone were successfully completed. 

Following a period of almost two years of technical difficulties, the Conclusions adopted at 
the JHA Council of 7-8 October 2010 provided a clear, realistic and widely-shared roadmap 
for  the  SIS  II  project's  finalisation.  The  Commission  highlighted  that  it  was  time  to  give 
experts the serenity they needed to allow complete concentration on the technical objectives 
ahead of them and completion of the project.  

2.2. Contractual framework for finalising the project 

On  15  September  2010,  the  Commission  and  the  main  development  contractor  reached 
agreement on the contractual framework for finalising the project. The main features of this 
agreement are the following: 

•  Technical requirements 

The Commission and the contractor agreed on all definitive requirements for the SIS 
II  system  to  go  live,  in  full  compliance  with  the  consensus  reached  with  Member 
States'  experts.  One  of  the  chief  upgraded  features  of  the  system  concerns  its 
capacity,  which  is  about  five  times  bigger  than  originally  envisaged  (from  15-22 
million alerts in the initial contract to 70-100 million alerts now required). The high 
performance requirements of the system have been maintained, so as to meet all the 
operational needs of its future end-users. 

It  is  important  to  note  that  the  core  obligations  stemming  from  the  SIS  II  legal 
instruments remained unaffected by the revised requirements. 

•  Schedule 

The  global  schedule,  announced  to  the  June  2010  Council,  was  confirmed  and 
became  an  integral  part  of  the  contract.  The  further  development  and  extensive 
testing of SIS II will be carried out over a period of 30 months. The system will thus 
be  ready  for  entry  into  operation  during  the  first  quarter  of  2013.  The  short  term 
focus, which will last until the second quarter of 2011, will be the adaptation of both 
the central and national systems to the updated requirements. To that purpose, a new 

2 

Commission  Staff  Working  Document,  "Report  on  the  global  schedule  and  budget  for  the  entry  into 
operation of the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II)": document SEC (2010) 1138 
final Brussels 21.09.2010 

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Interface Control document (ICD), which is the basic technical reference document 
for the development of the central and national components of the SIS II, was issued 
in October and the hardware upgrade was delivered to the main and back-up sites at 
the  end  of  the  year.  The  subsequent  phase  will  be  devoted  to  testing  activities  to 
ascertain  the  proper  functioning  of  SIS  II  as  a  whole.  This  will  take  approximately 
one year and will culminate in the second milestone test in 2012. The final phases of 
the project will consist of the 'comprehensive test' (a test campaign provided for in 
the SIS II legal instruments) and the actual data migration. The entry into operation 
of the system is to take place during the first quarter of 2013. 

•  Budget 

The budget of the negotiated procedure for completing the development and testing 
of SIS II was set at € 34.95 million. 

More  specifically,  out  of  the  €  34.95  million,  €  22.02  million  was  allocated  to 
development  (including  testing  and  migration)  and  €  12.93  to  hardware  upgrades 
(justified  by  the  system's  increased  capacity  and  the  need  for  additional  testing 
environments that allow development and testing tasks to be carried out in parallel). 

Development  costs  are  in  line  with  the  budget  estimated  in  the  Commission 
comparative report of June 2009 (€ 21.74 million, without hardware upgrade). 

Global costs will be kept within the budgetary envelope agreed for SIS II until 2013. 

•  Contractual Conditions and Guarantees  

In  the  course  of  these  negotiations,  the  Commission  ensured  that  none  of  the 
contractual  conditions  and  safeguards  of  the  original  contract  were  lowered,  in 
particular those concerning the provisions on penalties. 

The Commission also secured the inclusion of a "resolution" clause in the contract, 
as specified in the June 2009 Council Conclusions. This clause is similar to the one 
put in place should failure have occurred at the first milestone test, but now relates to 
the performance of the second milestone test. It will allow the Commission to decide 
on  the  immediate  termination  of  the  contract,  should  the  second  milestone  test  be 
considered to have failed. 

The Commission also ensured a "best customer clause" for hardware acquisition. 

2.3. Preparations for an alternative technical solution 

On 7-8 October 2010, the JHA Council recalled that the contingency plan based on the further 
development of C.SIS 1+ needed to be retained until the tests defined in the second milestone 
were successfully completed. To that end, the Council called upon the Commission to take the 
necessary steps to ensure, in cooperation with France, the availability of such a contingency 
plan until that time. 

In  order  to  prepare  the  ground  for  a  possible  switch  to  an  alternative  technical  scenario  for 
implementing the SIS II functionalities, should a milestone be judged to have failed, bilateral 
discussions have taken place between the Commission and France, since 2009, on a possible 

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delegation  agreement  for  implementing  the  alternative  option  for  developing  SIS  II  on  the 
basis of an enhanced SIS 1+ technical solution (SIS 1+RE).  

A  delegation  agreement  would  allow  the  Commission  to  implement  the  EU  budget  by 
delegation  of  tasks,  related  to  SIS  II  development,  to  France.  The  draft  of  this  delegation 
agreement has already been finalised and could be re-used for any viable alternative technical 
solution which France might put forward.  

As  regards  the  legal  relations  between  France  and  its  contractor  for  SIS  1+RE,  France 
informed the Commission that, due to French public procurement  law,  the  contractual  basis 
for SIS 1+RE would lapse if not triggered by September 2010. This indeed occurred. In the 
light of the commitment of France to provide a technical contingency solution until after the 
second milestone (as described in the Council Conclusions on SIS II of 23 April 2010), the 
Commission will continue to work in close cooperation with the French authorities to enable 
that this solution can be implemented, by means of a renewed call for tender by the French 
authorities, should this be required. 

As  regards  legislative  action,  all  necessary  steps  are  already  in  place  to  ensure  that  an 
alternative  technical  scenario  can  be  implemented,  should  it be  necessary.  The  Commission 
proposal  for  amendments  to  the  SIS  II  migration  instruments  resulted  in  adoption  by  the 
Council in June 2010 of a provision, whereby, "the development of SIS II may be achieved by 
implementing  an  alternative  technical  scenario  characterised  by  its  own  technical 
specifications"3. 

2.4. Preparations for migration 

In  order  to  successfully  perform  the  migration  from  SIS  1+  to  SIS  II  an  interim  migration 
architecture will be put in place. This will include a converter designed to convert data in two 
directions between the current C.SIS and central SIS II and keep both systems synchronised 
for the period of time required for Member States to move from one system to the other.  

The key elements of the work, at this stage, are:  

•  The converter itself, to be developed by the contractor. 

•  The related documentation, such as the technical specifications of the converter. 

•  Converter test documentation.  

•  Data cleansing activities at Member State level in order to ensure that existing SIS 
1+  alerts,  to  be  moved  to  SIS  II,  are  as  close  to  SIS  II  data  requirements  as 
possible. 

Due  to  the  period  of  technical  and  political  discussion  over  the  SIS  II  project,  which  lasted 
from  the  failure  of  the  operational  system  tests  in  December  2008  until  the  successful  first 
milestone test in March 2010, migration activities were placed, to a certain degree, on hold. 
With the clarity gained during the second half of 2010 these activities regained their position 

3 

Common Article 1(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1104/2008, as amended by Regulation (EU) No 541/2010, 
and of Council Decision 2008/839/JHA as amended by Regulation (EU) No 542/2010 

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of  importance.  All  the  previous  work  on  migration  has  been  reviewed  to  align  it  with  the 
refined requirements. 

Development  of  the  converter  has  continued,  in  the  light  of  the  requirements.  The  updated 
converter will be needed towards the end of the second quarter 2011 for testing in conjunction 
with the existing SIS 1+. 

In  order  to  assist  the  Member  States  in  identifying  the  amount  of  work  they  face  in  data 
cleansing,  C.SIS  regularly  provides  to  the  relevant  Council  working  party  a  document 
describing the detailed evolution of the SIS database according to data mapping and cleansing 
activities. 

2.5. SIS II network  

The SIS II project includes the provision of a wide area communications network, meeting the 
requirements  of  availability,  security,  geographical  coverage  and  level  of  service,  to  enable 
the national and central systems to communicate.  

During the period covered by this report, the connection to the SIS II s-TESTA network was 
successfully established for Romania, on time and within budget, bringing to 31 the number 
of Member States connected (plus Europol and Eurojust) 

2.6. Operational management 

In accordance with the political mandate that the Council and the European Parliament gave 
to  the  Commission  in  the  form  of  joint  statements  when  adopting  the  SIS  II  and  VIS  legal 
instruments,  the  Commission  adopted,  in  June  2009,  legislative  proposals  for  setting  up  an 
Agency  for  the  operational  management  of  large-scale  IT  systems  in  the  area  of  freedom, 
security and justice. Following the entry into force of the Lisbon treaty it became necessary to 
present  a  single  amended  proposal  which  was  adopted  by  the  Commission  in  March  2010. 
The  core  mission  of  the  proposed  Agency  would  be  to  carry  out  the  tasks  related  to  the 
operational  management  of  SIS  II  (once  brought  into  operation),  VIS  and  EURODAC.  In 
future the Agency could also be entrusted with other large-scale IT systems.  

Work on this legislative proposal is well advanced and it is anticipated that adoption of the 
regulation can take place in the course of 2011.  

2.7. Security  

Following  points  raised  by  some  Member  States  regarding  compliance  with  Commission 
Decisions  2007/171/EC,  2007/170/EC  and  2008/602/EC4,  the  Commission  carried  out  a 
technical study on the question of access to unencrypted data within the secure environment 
of the network operating centre. 

4 

2007/171/EC: Commission Decision of 16 March 2007 laying down the network requirements for the 
Schengen  Information  System  II  (3rd  pillar);  2007/170/EC:  Commission  Decision  of  16  March  2007 
laying  down  the  network  requirements  for  the  Schengen  Information  System  II  (1st  pillar)  (notified 
under  document  number  C(2007)  845);  2008/602/EC:  Commission  Decision  of  17 June  2008  laying 
down  the  physical  architecture  and  requirements  of  the  national  interfaces  and  of  the  communication 
infrastructure between the central VIS and the national interfaces for the development phase (notified 
under document number C(2008) 2693).  

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The  study  described  several  potential  scenarios  and  the  opinions  of  Member  States'  experts 
were  sought.  Options  included  a  second  layer  of  encryption  but  also  a  set  of  additional 
organisational  procedures  to  prevent  or  limit  access  to  unencrypted  data.  In  terms  of 
implementation,  the  potential  solution  will  have  to  ensure  minimal  impact  on  certain  key 
criteria,  such  as  the  performance  and  response  time  of  the  system,  implementation  costs  at 
central and national level and impact on the schedule. Implementation of potential solutions 
was  addressed  with  Member  States  in  a  workshop  organised  by  the  Commission  in  early 
2011. 

3. 

MANAGEMENT  

3.1. Financial implications  

By the end of the reporting period the total budgetary commitments made by the Commission 
on  the  SIS  II  project,  since  2002,  amounted  to  €  133.170.429.  The  corr esponding  contracts 
include  feasibility  studies,  the  development  of  the  central  SIS  II  itself,  support  and  quality 
assurance,  the  SIS  II  network,  preparation  for  operational  management  in  Strasbourg, 
security, biometrics preparations, communication and experts' mission expenses. 

Of this amount, € 68.152.710 had actually been  paid between 2002 and the end of December 
2010.  The  main  expenditure  items  were  development  (€  33.435.295),  the  network  (€ 
20.371.388) and support and quality assurance (€ 8.124.387). 

Budget execution 

From 2002 to December 2010 

From July to December 2010 

Commitments 

Payments 

Commitments 

Payments 

80.377.456

33.435.295

37.201.723 

6.934.479

quality 

9.882.074

8.124.387

482.180 

931.907

32.375.954

20.371.388

0 

4.358.677

7.468.215

4.837.950

1.344.177 

309.529

874.715

940.481

33.373

217.712

921.611

33.373

5.440 

0 

0 

0

0

0

Development 

Support  & 
assurance 

Network 

Operational 
management preparation 

Security 

Studies / Consultancy 

Information Campaign 

Experts 
Expenses 

Others 

Mission 

1.203.286

196.121

149.906 

43.950

14.874

14.874

0 

0

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TOTAL:

133.170.429

68.152.710

39.183.426 

12.578.542

During this period, Member States expressed a growing concern over the need for additional 
national  funding  for  SIS  II.  In  order  to  address  this  issue,  the  Commission  commenced 
assessment of the possibilities to provide further support towards the costs of completing the 
national system developments within the existing budget allocations. This was carried out in 
close  cooperation  with  the  national  Responsible  Authority  under  the  European  External 
Borders  Fund  (EBF)  in  the  Member  States  and  the  SIS  II  national  project  managers. 
Discussions on this matter took place within the framework of the SOLID Committee at its 
meeting  on  20  October.  Each  Member  State  was  subsequently  invited  to  identify  their 
respective national needs and report them to the SOLID Committee by the end of November 
2010.  An  analysis  of  this  data  was  then  carried  out  in  order  to  ascertain  whether  existing 
funding is sufficient or whether complementary resources may be required.  

3.2. Project management  

3.2.1. Global Programme Management Board (GPMB) 

In the Council Conclusions on SIS II of 26-27 February 2009 and 4-5 June 2009, an informal 
body  consisting  of  experts  from  the  Member  States,  designated  as  the  Global  Programme 
Management  Board,  was  established  to  enhance  cooperation  and  to  provide  direct  Member 
States' support to the central SIS II project. The positive result of the work of this group and 
the  necessity  to  further  enhance  cooperation  and  transparency  for  the  project  justified  the 
formal integration of the group into the SIS II management structure, without prejudice to the 
responsibilities of the Commission and the Member States. 

The amended migration legal instruments, adopted on 3 June 20105, formalised the GPMB as 
an advisory body for assistance to the central SIS II project to facilitate consistency between 
central  and  national  SIS  II  projects.  The  Board  has  neither  decision-making  power  nor  any 
mandate to represent the Commission or Member States. 

The legal instruments set out that a number of experts would be designated by the Member 
States  acting  within  the  Council.  The  nominations  were  agreed  on  23  September  2010.  The 
Commission carried out a parallel process to nominate its own experts. This allowed the next 
meeting,  on  30  September  2010  to  take  place  within  the  new  formal  framework.  The 
established  practice  of  alternating  the  chairperson  role  between  the  Presidency  and  the 
Commission continued. 

The GPMB reached an agreement on the draft Terms of Reference in November 2010, to be 
put forward to the SISVIS Committee in 2011. 

The GPMB met sixteen times during the period covered by this report.  

5 

Regulation (EU) No 541/2010 and Regulation (EU) No 542/2010 

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3.2.2. SISVIS Committee (SIS II) 

The  Commission  is  assisted  in  the  development  of  SIS  II  by  the  SISVIS  Committee.  There 
were three meetings of the SISVIS Committee on SIS II technical matters in the period July – 
December 2010. 

In  addition  to  regular  SISVIS  Committee  meetings,  working  groups  of  the  Committee  and 
workshops,  involving  Member  States'  experts,  are  organised  to  discuss  detailed  technical 
issues. These meetings generally focus on issues arising from specific project deliverables: 

•  The  "Test  Advisory  Group"  (TAG),  provides  the  SISVIS  Committee  with  an 
opinion on issues related to the organisation, implementation and interpretation of 
tests. This group held two meetings in this reporting period. 

•  The  "Change  Management  Board"  (CMB),  provides  advice  on  classification, 
qualification  and  the  potential  impact  of  correction  of  reported  issues.  This 
working group, which also reports to the SISVIS Committee, met once during the 
reporting period.  

•  One SIS II Migration Workshop was held during this period, to advise the SISVIS 

Committee and pursue activities on this critical topic. 

3.2.3. National planning and coordination 

A  working  group  composed  of  the  Member  States'  and  users'  national  project  managers 
(NPM) is organised to advise the Commission services. The purpose of the NPM meetings is 
to  deal  with  detailed  planning  issues,  risks  and  activities  both  at  the  central  and  national 
project levels. During this reporting period three NPM meetings took place.  

3.2.4. Council  

As expressed in Council Conclusions and in line with the wishes of all parties in the project to 
maintain  complete  transparency,  the  Commission  keeps  the  Council  and  the  European 
Parliament informed, regularly, on the implementation of the global schedule for SIS II and 
expenditure on the central project.  

The  Commission  takes  part  in  the  meetings  of  the  preparatory  bodies  of  the  Council 
responsible  for  the  Schengen  Information  System  and  of  each  Council  of  Ministers  session 
where SIS II is included on the agenda. The Commission has presented reports on the state of 
play of the SIS II project and the envisaged next steps.  

In  addition  to  the  usual  oral  updates,  during  this  period  the  Commission  circulated  its 
Commission  Staff  Working  Document,  "Report  on  the  global  schedule  and  budget  for  the 
entry into operation of the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II)", prior to 
the JHA Council of 7-8 October. 

The  Commission  circulates  a  weekly  flash  report,  summarising  technical  developments,  to 
colleagues engaged in the project at national level. 

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3.2.5. European Parliament 

The Commission continued to keep the European Parliament closely informed on the state of 
play on SIS II on the basis of correct, verifiable and up-to-date facts and data.  

The announcements by the Committee on Budgets, "to hold funds allocated to the migration 
to the SIS II in reserve pending successful testing and a comprehensive audit", were followed 
up  during  the  2011  budget  procedure.  On  15  December,  the  European  Parliament  put  the 
appropriations for SIS II in the reserve for the 2011 budget. 

The Parliament set out the conditions for lifting the reserve6: 

1. 

2. 

The  presentation  by  the  Commission  of  a  "concrete  and  realistic  schedule"  for  the 
further  development  of  the  SIS  II,  as  well  as  an  overview  of  the  budgetary 
implications.  

Full  access  to  the  service  contract  signed  between  the  Commission  and  the  service 
provider  for  the  development  of  the  SIS  II  system  to  both  the  Parliament  and  the 
Council.  

In  order  to  satisfy  the  first  condition  described  above,  the  Commission  provided,  in 
November, a detailed overview of progress to members of relevant Parliamentary Committees 
in the context of a "technical briefing". Extensive budgetary information, covering both past 
and  future  budgetary  commitments  and  payments,  was  circulated  by  the  Commission. 
Furthermore,  the  Commission  expressed  its  readiness  to  share  the  requested  contractual 
information  in  a  confidential  environment  (to  protect  the  contractor's  legitimate  business 
interests). This meeting also offered the opportunity for discussing practical ways of handling 
the  budgetary  issue,  ensuring  that  the  Parliament  could  demonstrate  its  role  of  control  and 
overview without impeding progress on the project and the processing of invoices. 

Further  meetings  with  MEPs  regularly  took  place,  a  letter  was  sent  by  Commissioner 
Malmström  to  the  Chairman  of  the  LIBE  Committee  of  the  European  Parliament  (and  to 
rapporteurs) on the main outcomes of the October JHA Council. The report on the schedule 
and  budgetary  plan  was  forwarded  to  the  chairs  of  both  LIBE  and  BUDG  committees,  and 
presentations on the state of play of SIS II have been made in the LIBE Committee. 

Finally, the Commission responded to ten Parliamentary questions relating to SIS II. 

4. 

PRIORITIES FOR THE NEXT REPORTING PERIOD  

The  initial  focus,  which  will last  until  the  second  quarter  of  2011,  will  be  the  upgrading  of 
both the central and national systems to comply with the updated requirements.  

The subsequent phase will be devoted to testing activities to ascertain the proper functioning 
of  the  SIS  II  as  a  whole.  This  will  take  approximately  one  year  and  will  culminate  in  the 
second milestone test in the first quarter of 2012.  

6 

Two thirds of appropriations for both commitments and payments have been released in January 2011. 

EN 

10 

   EN 

 
                                                 
The final phases of the project will consist of the 'comprehensive test' (a test campaign set out 
in the SIS II legal instruments) and the actual data migration. The entry into operation of the 
system is to take place during the first quarter of 2013. 

5. 

CONCLUSIONS 

Thanks  to  the  joint  efforts  of  all  stakeholders,  the  significant  technical  and  political 
uncertainties  over  the  future  of  the  SIS  II  project  that  characterised  the  beginning  of  2010 
have progressively been addressed in the course of the year. This intensive work culminated 
with  the  successful  outcome  of  the  first  milestone  test,  the  consensual  definition  of  final 
requirements  for  the  system  to  go  live  and  the  conclusion  of  the  corresponding  contractual 
framework. These positive developments all contributed to bringing the SIS II project back on 
track  with  a  clear  and  shared  vision  on  the  remaining  phases  of  the  project,  as  well  as  a 
realistic schedule and an adequate budgetary plan to complete the work outstanding. Closing a 
parenthesis  of  almost  two  years  of  difficulties,  this  new  momentum  provides  a  framework 
within which all stakeholders will need to make the necessary efforts to ensure the finalisation 
of the SIS II project. 

EN 

11 

   EN 

 
Annex I 

SISVIS Committee (SIS II) and Working Group Meetings 

Meetings held during the reporting period  

JULY 2010 

6, 14, 27  SIS II Global Programme Management Board 

13  Change Management Board  

15 

'National Project Managers' Meeting 

15  SISVIS Committee (SIS II technical) 

AUGUST 2010 

11, 25  SIS II Global Programme Management Board 

SEPTEMBER 2010 

8, 16, 30  SIS II Global Programme Management Board 

22  SISVIS Committee (SIS II technical) 

22 

'National Project Managers' Meeting 

OCTOBER 2010 

20  SISVIS Committee (SIS II technical) 

27  SIS VIS Committee (SIRENE) 

20, 27  SIS II Global Programme Management Board 

NOVEMBER 2010 

10, 16, 24   SIS II Global Programme Management Board 

DECEMBER 2010 

2  Migration Workshop 

EN 

12 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
2, 8, 15  SIS II Global Programme Management Board 

16 

'National Project Managers' Meeting 

7, 14  Test Advisory Group 

SISVIS Committee (SIS II) and Working Group Meetings 

b) Meetings provisionally scheduled during the forthcoming reporting period 

JANUARY 2011 

11-12  Test Workshop 

12, 19, 25  SIS II Global Programme Management Board 

26   SISVIS Committee (SIS II technical) 

26 

'National Project Managers' Meeting 

FEBRUARY 2011 

2, 9, 16, 22  SIS II Global Programme Management Board 

23  SISVIS Committee (SIS II technical) 

23 

'National Project Managers' Meeting  

2, 9, 16, 22, 30   SIS II Global Programme Management Board 

MARCH 2011 

23  SISVIS Committee (SIS II technical) 

23 

'National Project Managers' Meeting 

6, 13, 20, 26  SIS II Global Programme Management Board 

APRIL 2011  

27  SISVIS Committee (SIS II technical) 

27 

'National Project Managers' Meeting 

EN 

13 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
4, 11, 18, 24  SIS II Global Programme Management Board 

MAY 2011 

25  SISVIS Committee (SIS II technical) 

25 

'National Project Managers' Meeting 

1, 8, 15, 28  SIS II Global Programme Management Board 

JUNE 2011 

29  SISVIS Committee (SIS II technical) 

29 

'National Project Managers' Meeting 

EN 

14 

   EN