REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE VISA INFORMATION SYSTEM (VIS) IN 2011 (submitted pursuant to Article 6 of Council Decision 2004/512/EC)
Date: 2012-07-11
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, EU visa policy, North Africa, Schengen Information System, information system, project management, transmission network

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 11.7.2012  
COM(2012) 376 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE VISA INFORMATION SYSTEM (VIS) IN 2011
(submitted pursuant to Article 6 of Council Decision 2004/512/EC) 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
  
 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE VISA INFORMATION SYSTEM (VIS) IN 2011 
(submitted pursuant to Article 6 of Council Decision 2004/512/EC) 

EN 

2 

   EN 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE 
COUNCIL ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE VISA INFORMATION SYSTEM (VIS) IN 
2011 (submitted pursuant to Article 6 of Council Decision 2004/512/EC)............................... 2 

1. 

2. 

3. 

3.1. 

3.2. 

3.3. 

3.4. 

3.5. 

3.6. 

3.7. 

3.8. 

3.9. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

6.1. 

6.2. 

7. 

8. 

9. 

9.1. 

9.2. 

9.3. 

9.4. 

 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 4 

Legal framework for the VIS ....................................................................................... 4 

Progress during the period under review ..................................................................... 4 

Development and testing of the central system............................................................ 4 

Development of the Biometric Matching System (BMS)............................................ 5 

VIS Mail communication mechanism.......................................................................... 5 

Site Preparations and Network..................................................................................... 5 

Handover of the central system to the French authorities (C.SIS)............................... 6 

Member States' National Planning............................................................................... 6 

Start of operations of the VIS in North Africa............................................................. 7 

Start of operations of the VIS in regions other than North Africa ............................... 7 

Statistics ....................................................................................................................... 8 

Contract for the Maintenance of the VIS under Working Order and Evolutive 
Maintenance (MWO/EM) ............................................................................................ 9 

Information campaign .................................................................................................. 9 

Project management ................................................................................................... 10 

Planning and budget................................................................................................... 10 

Risk management ....................................................................................................... 10 

Friends of the VIS ...................................................................................................... 10 

Conclusion.................................................................................................................. 11 

Annex: VIS working groups ...................................................................................... 12 

SISVIS Committee..................................................................................................... 12 

VIS National Project Managers (NPM) meetings...................................................... 12 

Test Advisory Group (TAG)...................................................................................... 12 

VIS Mail Expert Group (VIS MEG).......................................................................... 12 

EN 

3 

   EN 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

The Commission, in accordance with Article 6  of  Council  Decision 2004/512/EC  of  8 June 
2004  establishing  the  Visa  Information  System1,  herewith  submits  to  the  Council  and  the 
European Parliament the eighth 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 2011.  

2. 

LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE VIS 

Pursuant  to  Article  48  of  the  VIS  Regulation3,  the  European  Commission  adopted  on  21 
September  2011  an  Implementing  Decision  determining  the  date  from  which  the  Visa 
Information  System  (VIS)  is  to  start  operations  in  a  first  region  (2011/636/EU).4  The  date 
chosen was 11 October 2011 (see section 3.7). 

Commission Regulation No 977/2011 of 3 October 2011 amending the Visa Code was also 
adopted during the reporting period5. 

No other legal instruments concerning the VIS were adopted in 2011. 

3. 

PROGRESS DURING THE PERIOD UNDER REVIEW 

3.1. 

Development and testing of the central system  

During  the  reporting  period,  two  testing  phases  were  successfully  completed,  the  first  of 
which involved seven participating countries and the second involved 16 of them (the same 
seven and nine additional ones).6 The two testing phases were completed later than originally 
scheduled, but still within the reporting  period,  due to re-runs  of some  tests that proved  the 
stability and robustness of the system. In the end, both series of tests were determined to have 
met the contractual requirements.  

The system actually started operations on 11 October 2011 in the visa-issuing consular posts 
of  the  Schengen  states  in  North  Africa  (Algeria,  Egypt,  Libya,  Mauritania,  Morocco  and 

1 
2 

3 

4 

5 
6 

OJ L 213 of 15.6.2004, p. 5. 
For the seventh report, see the Report from the Commission to the Council and European Parliament on 
the development of the Visa Information System (VIS) in 2010, COM(2011) 346 final of 14.06.2011. 
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 Implementing Decision of 21 September 2011 determining the date from which the Visa 
Information System (VIS) is to start operations in a first region (2011/636/EU), OJ L 249, 27.9.2011, 
p.18 
OJ L 258, 4.10.2011, p. 9. 
The first test (Operational System Tests – OST) involved Germany, Estonia, Italy, Hungary, Slovenia, 
Sweden  and  Norway.  The  second  test  (Provisional  System  Acceptance  Tests  –  PSAT)  involved  the 
above  countries  as  well  as  Spain,  France,  Latvia,  Lithuania,  Poland,  Portugal,  Slovakia,  Finland  and 
Switzerland. 

EN 

4 

   EN 

                                                 
Tunisia).  In  accordance  with  the  amended  Schengen  Borders  Code7,  twenty  days  after  the 
start of operations, i.e. on 31 October 2011, Member States started checking all visas against 
VIS at least with the visa sticker number at all Schengen border-crossing points. 

On 19 December 2011, Liechtenstein joined Schengen and was successfully connected to the 
VIS. 

3.2. 

Development of the Biometric Matching System (BMS)  

Throughout  the  reporting  period,  the  Biometric  Matching  System  (BMS),  which  provides 
fingerprint  matching  services  to  the  VIS,  has  been  supporting  the  VIS  Operational  System 
Tests (OST) and Provisional Acceptance Tests (PSAT) without encountering problems.  

The BMS became operational together with the VIS on 11 October 2011. The Final System 
Acceptance period of five months started on the following day.  

In  the  period  between  11  October  2011  and  31  December  2011,  the  BMS  stored  a  total  of 
170.138  fingerprint  sets.  A  large  majority  of  these  fingerprints  were  submitted  by  France, 
Germany, Italy and Spain. Member States continued to use the software kits provided by the 
BMS  contractor  for  their  fingerprint  capturing  devices.  Some  Member  States  significantly 
improved  fingerprint  quality  in  the  first  months.  The  quality  of  fingerprints  submitted  by 
some  Member  States  still  needs  improvement,  though.  Member  States  have  also  started 
verifying fingerprints at border crossing points, which is optional during a transitional period 
of three years in accordance with the Schengen Borders Code. 

3.3. 

VIS Mail communication mechanism  

Two major milestones were reached during the reporting period as regards VIS Mail. The first 
one  is  the  start  of  operations  with  the  consular  posts  present  in  this  region  exchanging  a 
limited number of consular cooperation messages on the production infrastructure of the VIS 
Mail.  The  second  major  milestone  is  the  finalisation  of  the  specifications  for  the  VIS  Mail 
phase 2. In this phase, which will start after the VIS is rolled-out worldwide, VIS Mail will 
incorporate  the  functionality  of  the  Schengen  Consultation  Network.  The  procedure  for  the 
adoption  of  an  Implementing  Commission  Decision  for  the  specifications  was  initiated 
towards the end of the reporting period. On 9 December 2011 the SISVIS Committee in its 
VIS formation gave a positive opinion on the draft specifications. The Decision is expected to 
be adopted in the course of 2012 (see section 9.1). 

3.4. 

Site Preparations and Network 

Romania  was  connected  to  the  sTESTA  network  during  the  reporting  period  and 
Liechtenstein began to access the production environment in late December 2011. The main 
activities related to the network during the reporting period were (a) securing the operations 
of the optional "failover mechanism" from the primary site to the backup site; (b) providing a 
Network Time Protocol server for time synchronisation between the central and the Member 
State  sites;  (c)  refreshing  the  network  technology,  which  enhanced  the  robustness  of  the 
encryption  devices;  (d)  testing  the  VIS  Mail  Relay;  (e)  providing  C.SIS  staff  with  a 
communication  infrastructure  for  their  interactions  with  the  Member  States;  (f)  providing  a 

7 

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, 4.2.2009, p.56 

EN 

5 

   EN 

                                                 
Web Portal containing a detailed view of the state of the Network, available for C.SIS staff 
for their monitoring activities; and finally (g) monitoring the VIS Network during the critical 
testing phases prior to and immediately after the VIS start of operations. 

The “failover mechanism” allows Member States with a backup national system to ensure the 
continuity  of  operations  in  case  the  national  system  fails.  The  "failover  exercise"  was 
successfully completed by a total of twelve Member States by the end of 2011. The exercise 
will continue in 2012 for the other Member States interested in implementing this solution. 

3.5. 

Handover of the central system to the French authorities (C.SIS) 

Following  the  successful  completion  of  all  testing  phases,  the  central  system  was 
gradually handed over to the French authorities in Strasbourg (C.SIS) over a three-
week period in September 2011. This process included various technical activities on 
the  VIS  and  BMS,  such  as  a  cleanup  of  the  database  and  rehearsals  of  various 
operational procedures (e.g. switchover/switchback, stop/start). 

During a transitional period before the Management Authority (the European Agency for the 
management of large-scale IT systems in the area of justice, freedom and security) takes up its 
responsibilities as from 1 December 2012, the Commission will be responsible for the daily 
operational management of the system. In line with the VIS Regulation, the Commission may 
entrust  the  operational  management  of  the  VIS  to  national  public-sector  bodies  in  two 
different  Member  States.  A  contract  has  been  concluded  with  the  national  authorities  of 
France for the provision of services related to operational management. Contracts have also 
been  concluded  with  France  and  Austria  concerning  infrastructure  at  the  central  site  in 
Strasbourg and the back-up site at St Johann im Pongau respectively.  

3.6.  Member States' National Planning 

Apart from the availability of the central VIS, the key dependency for the system becoming 
operational was the progress in the national projects.  

Through the monthly reporting mechanism developed in the context of the Friends of the VIS 
(see  section  7),  all  Member  States  consistently  reported  their  progress  as  being  on  time  to 
achieve  the  target  date  for  the  start  of  operations  in  the  first  region  of  deployment  (North 
Africa).  

As regards compliance testing (CT) of the national systems, the Czech Republic and Greece 
successfully completed their tests during the first part of the reporting period, thereby closing 
the cycle of compliance testing with all Schengen countries. 

As it was the case in 2010, visits were organised in North Africa in 2011 to obtain "on-site" 
information about the level of preparedness in Member State consulates, especially as regards 
their  capacity  to  collect  and  transmit  biometric  data  of  visa  applicants  to  the  VIS.  In  early 
October  2011,  representatives  of  the  Commission  and  of  the  Member  State  holding  the 
Presidency  of  the  Justice  and  Home  Affairs  Council  configuration  travelled  to  Tunisia 
(Tunis),  Morocco  (Casablanca  and  Rabat)  and  Libya  (Tripoli)  to  attend  Local  Schengen 
Cooperation meetings and to visit local consular installations. In total, ten consular posts were 
visited; this resulted in concrete legal and technical recommendations for consular staff . 

EN 

6 

   EN 

3.7. 

Start of operations of the VIS in North Africa 

Political and legal aspects 

During  the  "Friends  of  the  VIS"  meeting  on  16  March  2011,  several  Member  States  stated 
that, while they would be technically ready to connect to the VIS at the end of June 2011, they 
would prefer to start operations in North Africa8 after the peak visa issuance period during the 
summer and the changeover of consular staff. A consensus emerged to start operations on 11 
October 2011. 

Article 48 of the VIS Regulation provides that the Commission adopts a Decision determining 
the  date  of  the  start  of  operations  when  a)  the  Commission  has  declared  the  successful 
completion  of  a  "comprehensive"  test  of  the  VIS  with  Member  States,  and  b)  when  all 
Member States have notified the Commission of their readiness to transmit data to the central 
system  via  their  national  interface  and  to  connect  to  the  VIS  at  their  consulates  in  the  first 
region of deployment. 

As regards the first prerequisite, the Commission and the Member State experts considered on 
7 July 2011 that a comprehensive testing of the system with Member States was successfully 
completed. A letter from Commissioner Malmström and the results of the tests were sent to 
the European Parliament on 7 October 2011. 

As regards the second prerequisite, Member States were invited to submit their notifications 
of readiness by the end of July 2011. The first notification was submitted on 5 July 2011 and 
the last one on 2 September 2011. 

These  two  achievements  enabled  the  Commission  to  adopt  on  21  September  2011  an 
Implementing Decision determining the date from which the Visa Information System (VIS) 
was to start operations in a first region.9 

Operational aspects 

On 11 October 2011, all Member States successfully connected to the VIS in North Africa. 
Sweden was the first Member State with a registered transaction at 06.00 UTC. On the first 
day, minor technical issues at national level were solved almost immediately. Germany was 
the first country to issue a visa with fingerprints.  

As from 31 October 2011, Member States started checking the visa sticker number against the 
VIS at their external border crossing points, as foreseen by the Schengen Borders Code.  

3.8. 

Start of operations of the VIS in regions other than North Africa 

A number of Member States made use of the possibility foreseen by Article 48(3) of the VIS 
Regulation to go ahead with the roll-out of the VIS in regions other than the first region, on 
the condition that they notify the Commission beforehand. 

8 

9 

Pursuant to Commission Decision 2010/49/EC of 30 November 2009 determining the first regions for 
the start of operations of the Visa Information System (VIS), OJ L 23, 27.1.2010, p. 62, the first three 
regions for the start of operations of the VIS are North Africa, the Near East and the Gulf Region. North 
Africa covers Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia. 
See footnote 4. 

EN 

7 

   EN 

 
 
                                                 
Hungary notified on 30 June 2011 that in the framework of a pilot project co-financed under 
the  External  Borders  Fund  (EBF),  it  would  start  collecting  visa  applicants'  fingerprints  and 
using the VIS in Istanbul, Ankara and Chisinau as from 11 October 2011. 

Switzerland  notified  on  12  July  2011  that  it  would  start  using  the  VIS,  without  collecting 
fingerprints,  within  the  Swiss  territory  and  for  the  issuance  of  visas  at  the  external  border 
crossing points, as from 11 October 2011. 

Estonia notified on 15 September 2011 that it would start using the VIS with the collection of 
applicants' fingerprints for the issuance of visas at the external border crossing points as from 
11 October 2011. Estonia also notified on 6 October 2011 its intention to start using the VIS 
without collecting the fingerprints in all consulates as from 11 October 2011.  

Belgium  notified  on  7  October  2011  that  it  would  start  using  the  VIS  without  collecting 
fingerprints  in  all  consulates  as  from  11  October  2011  (except  for  Conakry  where  Belgium 
started on 1 November 2011).  

Two Member States sent a notification to the Commission after having started VIS operations 
outside North Africa. For instance, Germany notified on 12 October 2011 that it had started 
using the VIS with the collection of fingerprints for the issuance of visas at the borders on 11 
October 2011. Iceland started using the VIS for the issuance of visas at its borders as from 11 
October  2011  –  the  notification  was  received  on  17  October  2011.  Although  no  specific 
problem  arose,  the  Commission  subsequently  asked  all  Member  States  to  inform  well  in 
advance  of  their  intention  to  roll-out  the  VIS  ahead  of  any  legally  determined  date.  The 
Commission  also  asked  Member  States  to  always  liaise  well  in  advance  with  the  EU 
Delegations  in  the  countries  concerned  and  to  take  all  appropriate  measures  to  inform  visa 
applicants and local authorities, especially if they plan to collect visa applicants' fingerprints. 

Finally, Poland notified on 19 October 2011 that it would use the VIS in Baku, Yerevan and 
Kuala Lumpur, with the collection of biometric data in the framework of a pilot project co-
financed under the EBF. The pilot project started on 26 October 2011 and is expected to end 
on 31 May 2012. 

3.9. 

Statistics 

By  the  end  of  the  reporting  period,  the  VIS  had  successfully  processed  299.648  visa 
applications,  of  which  229.124  resulted  in  Schengen  visas  issued,  while  33.451  visas  were 
refused. These figures concern the use of VIS in North Africa as well as in other parts of the 
world for the Member States indicated in the previous section. 

In  terms  of  impact  on  multiple  visa  applications  by  the  same  person,  by  the  end  of  the 
reporting period 468 cases of potential visa shopping – in which refused applicants lodged a 
new  visa  application  -  were  detected  in  the  VIS.  One  of  these  cases  concerns  five  visa 
applications  lodged  by  the  same  person  in  different  consular  posts.  Two  cases  concern  four 
applications and seven cases concern three applications. The remaining 458 cases contained 
two applications each. In one case, three different consular posts were involved over a period 
of four weeks and were able to link the applications together. 

EN 

8 

   EN 

4. 

CONTRACT  FOR  THE  MAINTENANCE  OF  THE  VIS  UNDER  WORKING  ORDER  AND 
EVOLUTIVE MAINTENANCE (MWO/EM) 

In  order  to  cater  for  the  technical  maintenance  of  the  VIS  under  working  conditions  and  to 
improve the performance of the system over time, taking into account the increasing amount 
of data that will be inserted in the VIS in the coming years, the Commission launched a call 
for  tender  for  the  "Maintenance  in  Working  Order  (MWO)  and  the  Evolutive  Maintenance 
(EM)" of VIS on 14 July 2011. By the end of the reporting period, the following steps of the 
process had been completed: reception of initial first-stage applications by six candidates (2 
September  2011);  selection  of  five  candidates  for  the  technical  evaluation  stage  and 
submission  of  the  tendering  technical  specifications  to  the  candidates  (mid-October  2011); 
submission of the technical offers by the candidates (23 December 2011).  

5. 

INFORMATION CAMPAIGN 

In  cooperation  with  an  external  contractor  and  in  consultation  with  Member  States,  the 
Commission  produced  information  material  in  English,  French,  German,  Spanish,  Arabic, 
Chinese and Russian to be used by Member States and the Commission for the information 
campaigns  prior  to  the  start  of  operations  of  the  VIS  and  thereafter.  The  material  was 
distributed to the Member States during the summer of 2011. 

In  addition,  a  video  was  produced  explaining  the  new  visa  procedures  under  the  VIS.  This 
video was available in several languages and was released to the European news portals and 
the Member States.  

Finally, the website of Directorate-General Home Affairs was updated on 11 October with all 
VIS-related information. 

Shortly  after  the  adoption  of  Decision  2011/636/EU,10  Directorate-General  Home  Affairs 
invited  the  Ambassadors  in  Brussels  of  Algeria,  Egypt,  Morocco,  Mauritania,  and  Tunisia. 
The purpose was to provide them with detailed information on the VIS start of operations for 
transmission to their authorities. Questions raised by the Ambassadors included the scope of 
the exemptions from the fingerprinting requirement and outsourcing. An information note was 
sent to the Ambassadors after the meeting. 

Following these meetings, EU Delegations in the region took steps to inform North African 
authorities  locally  in  consultation  with  Member  States  through  local  Schengen  cooperation. 
The Head of the EU Delegation in Egypt met with local authorities on 26 September 2011, 
accompanied by the Ambassadors of Germany, France, Italy and Poland. A meeting was also 
organised  with  the  Egyptian  business  community  at  the  German  Embassy  on  29  September 
2011 as well as a press conference at the French Embassy on 4 October 2011. As for Libya, 
Commission representatives travelled to Tripoli on 27 to 29 September 2011, i.a. to meet with 
representatives of the Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and to inform on the VIS go-live. 
Finally, in Morocco and Algeria, the EU Delegations sent a note to the local authorities. 

Two press events were organised on the day of the start of operations. In Brussels, a technical 
briefing followed by a press point by Commissioner Malmström's spokesperson was held. In 

10 

See footnote 4. 

EN 

9 

   EN 

                                                 
Warsaw, Commissioner Malmström together with the Polish Minister of Interior held a press 
conference to announce the successful launch of the VIS.  

6. 

PROJECT MANAGEMENT 

6.1. 

Planning and budget 

Available CA 
€ 21 200 000,00 

Execution CA  Total % Available PA  Execution PA  Total % 
€ 3 456 723,74 

The  total  available  commitment  appropriations  for  the  VIS  in  2011  amounted  to  EUR 31.2 
million of which 95.06 % were used. Due to the reduced test support services and the shift of 
the  payments  linked  to  the  final  system  acceptance  to  2012,  only  79.49 %  of  the  payment 
commitments were used. The budget line for VIS is 18.0205. 
VIS 
C1  (credits  from  VIS 
Financing 
Decision 
2011) 
C4 
from 
(credits 
contributions  IS,  NO, 
CH 2011) 
C5 
from 
(credits 
contributions  IS,  NO, 
CH 2010) 
Global Commitment 
Total 

95,06%  €  32 899 861,29  €  26 152 648,29 79,49% 

€ 27 486 195,00  € 22 037 191,85  

17 500 000 
€  29 660 022 

€ 1 298 209,85  0,00 

€  31 201 507,85 

€ 1 298 209,85 

€ 8 703 298,00 

€ 8 703 298,00 

€ 4 115 456,44 

€ 4 115 456,44 

6.2. 

Risk management 

The methodology for risk management remained unchanged during the reporting period. Each 
month  the  Commission  identified  the  most  important  risks  in  the  project  (at  central  and 
national  level)  and  presented  them  to  Member  States  at  the  monthly  VIS  National  Project 
Managers'  meetings.  In  this  task,  the  Commission  was  assisted  by  its  Quality  Assurance 
contractor. 

As in the previous year, risks were also discussed in the context of the Friends of the VIS. The 
Commission  worked  together  with  the  two  Member  States  holding  the  Presidency  of  the 
Justice and Home Affairs Council formation to assess the main risks and to categorise them 
according  to  their  impact  on  the  project.  Actions  were  identified  for  each  risk  in  order  to 
mitigate  them.  The  Commission  maintained  a  high-level  register  and  followed  up  the 
implementation of actions.  

At the end of 2011, the most critical risks identified were the following: a) system capacity 
being  consumed  quicker  than  foreseen  due  to  Member  States  rolling  out  to  other  regions 
ahead of the planned gradual rollout; b) handover of the central VIS from the C.SIS to the EU 
Agency  responsible  for  the  management  of  IT  systems,  and  c)  fingerprint  quality  during 
operations.  For  all  risks,  mitigation  actions  are  identified  and  the  Commission,  Member 
States,  and  the  Main  Development  Contractor  work  closely  together  to  limit  the  impact  of 
these risks on the overall project.  

7. 

FRIENDS OF THE VIS  

The Friends of the VIS met eight times during the reporting  period –  four  times  in  the  first 
semester and four times int the second one. As in the previous years, the high-level informal 

EN 

10 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
meetings  provided  a  forum  in  which  discussions  could  be  held  transparently  on  all  VIS-
related matters. The agenda was set by the Member State holding the Presidency of the Justice 
and  Home  Affairs  Council  formation  in  coordination  with  the  Commission  and  the  General 
Secretariat  of  the  Council.  The  topics  generally  included  a  technical  update  by  the 
Commission  on  the  VIS  state  of  play,  a  report  on  risks  and  the  results  from  the  reporting 
mechanism on national progress. 

Particular  attention  was  put  on  the  monitoring  of  national  progress  in  the  first  region  of 
deployment as well as the preparation of the information campaign. In the second part of the 
reporting period, the questionnaires on national progress were updated by the Member State 
holding  the  Presidency  of  the  Justice  and  Home  Affairs  Council  formation  to  also  cover 
preparations in the Near East and the Gulf Region. The objective was to assess the technical 
readiness of Member States, as well as their intention to start using the VIS in these regions 
following the start of operations in North Africa.  

The collection of these data enabled Poland to launch a discussion on the total duration of the 
worldwide  roll-out.  The  discussion  will  continue  in  2012.  It  must  be  noted  that  the  overall 
quality of the answers provided by Member States improved during the reporting period. In 
some  cases,  however,  discrepancies  appeared  between  information  on  preparations  in  North 
Africa and the official notifications of readiness in this region transmitted to the Commission. 
This was due to different interpretations of the notifications and did not, ultimately, cause any 
problems.  

In parallel to the questionnaires on the consular posts, Member States were asked to provide 
regular updates on their preparations at external border crossing points and on their readiness 
to use the VIS at borders for the purpose of issuing visas. Here again, the quality of answers 
improved during the reporting period and allowed for a useful monitoring of the situation. 

Denmark, which holds the Presidency in the first semester of 2012, has decided to continue 
using this reporting mechanism.  

8. 

CONCLUSION 

The year was characterised by the successful start of operations of the system in North Africa 
on 11 October 2011 with all participating countries. 

The  VIS  has  been  running  smoothly  since  its  start  of  operations  and  all  available  statistics 
demonstrate that Member States are making full use of the system. The VIS has also proven 
its  usefulness  in  detecting  multiple  visa  applications  by  a  single  person  at  two  or  more 
consulates.  

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. 

EN 

11 

   EN 

9. 

ANNEX: VIS WORKING GROUPS 

9.1. 

SISVIS Committee 

The  SISVIS  Committee  in  the  VIS  formation11  met  twice  in  2011,  on  23  June  and  2 
September.  During  the  first  meeting,  the  Commission  presented  a  non-paper  on  the 
determination of further regions for the roll-out of the VIS, which had already been presented 
at  the  occasion  of  the  Friends  of  the  VIS  meeting  on  20  June  2011.  Following  the  positive 
reception by the Committee, the Commission will proceed with the adoption of the Decision.  

During the second meeting of the Committee, the Commission and the delegates discussed the 
draft  technical  specifications  for  the  VIS  Mail  communication  mechanism.  The  draft 
Implementing  Decision  was  afterwards  received  positively  by  the  Committee  by  written 
procedure. The Commission started its internal procedures for adoption of the decision. Both 
decisions are expected to be adopted in 2012. 

9.2. 

VIS National Project Managers (NPM) meetings 

During  the  reporting  period,  the  Commission  convened  ten  expert  group  meetings  with  the 
Member States’ National Project Managers (NPM), to discuss the  status of the VIS project, 
detailed  technical  issues,  planning  issues,  risks  and  activities  at  central  and  national  project 
levels.  

9.3. 

Test Advisory Group (TAG) 

Due  to  the  intensive  testing  activities,  the  TAG,  an  advisory  working  group  of  the  SISVIS 
Committee  (VIS  formation),  met  frequently,  or  held  conference  calls,  during  the  reporting 
period.  The  TAG  ensured  a  structured  process  to  address  and  resolve  testing-related  issues 
and  advised  the  Commission  on  the  completion  of  VIS  testing  campaigns.  The  participants 
made recommendations on the testing of VIS during all test phases, especially those in which 
Member States participated directly.  

9.4. 

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 Mail communication mechanism. For 2012, it was agreed that the 
group would meet every two months. The work of the Commission and the Member States on 
VIS Mail is carried out in cooperation with the Network Contractor and is supported by the 
Support and Quality Assistance Contractor.  

11 

Established 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), OJ L 381, 28.12.2006, p. 4. 

EN 

12 

   EN