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) January 2012 - June 2012
Date: 2012-10-11
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Schengen Information System, border control, exchange of information, intergovernmental cooperation (EU)

EUROPEAN 
COMMISSION 

Brussels, 11.10.2012  
COM(2012) 587 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)   
January 2012 - June 2012 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. 

2. 

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

Project Status................................................................................................................ 3 

2.1. Overview of progress during the period under review........................................................ 3 

2.2. Technical framework for finalising the project................................................................... 4 

2.3. Preparations for migration................................................................................................... 7 

2.4. SIS II network ..................................................................................................................... 8 

2.5. Security................................................................................................................................ 8 

3. 

Management................................................................................................................. 9 

3.1. Financial aspects ................................................................................................................. 9 

3.2. Operational management................................................................................................... 10 

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

3.3.1. Global Programme Management Board (GPMB).......................................................... 10 

3.3.2. SIS-VIS Committee (SIS II) .......................................................................................... 11 

3.3.3. National planning and coordination ............................................................................... 11 

3.3.4. Council ........................................................................................................................... 11 

3.3.5. European Parliament ...................................................................................................... 12 

3.3.6. Risk management ........................................................................................................... 12 

4. 

5. 

Priorities for the next reporting period....................................................................... 12 

Conclusions ................................................................................................................ 13 

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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)   
January 2012 - June 2012 

1. 

INTRODUCTION  

This progress report describes the work carried out in the first semester of 2012, 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 of 24 October 20081 and of Council Decision 2008/839/JHA of 24 October 20082 
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 

Following  the  testing  of  the  national  and  central  systems'  components  in  the  previous 
semester, the focus of activity concentrated in the first half of 2012 on intensive testing of the 
central  system  and  its  increasing  interaction  with  the  national  systems.  The  preparations  for 
the final stages of the project, namely the completion of the Comprehensive test and the actual 
migration of data, advanced considerably during the reporting period.  

The  successful  result  of  the  second  Milestone  test  executed  between  2  and  7  May  by  the 
Commission, involving eleven Member States, proved the maturity of the Central System and 
demonstrates the progress achieved in the implementation of the project.  

Adherence to the global schedule has been safeguarded, notwithstanding challenges stemming 
from demanding testing activities carried out in parallel both at central and national level:  

(i)  Several  Member  States  took  advantage  of  the  extended  schedule  to  complete  their 
Compliance tests - extended (CTE) national campaigns. As the successful completion of this 
testing phase constitutes to be a prerequisite for participating in the Comprehensive test, the 
remaining  issues  at  national  level  have  been  progressively  dealt  with  by  the  respective 
Member States and the Commission as a matter of urgency.  

1 

2 

Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  1104/2008  of  24  October  2008  on  migration  from  the  Schengen 
Information  System  (SIS  1+)  to  the  second  generation  Schengen  Information  System  (SIS  II)  (OJ  L 
299, 8.11.2008, p. 1). 
Council  Decision  2008/839/JHA  of  24  October  2008  on  migration  from  the  Schengen  Information 
System (SIS 1+) to the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) (OJ L 299, 8.11.2008, 
p. 43). 

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(ii)  The  unavailability  of  qualified  and  validated  SIS  1+  test  tools  that  France  was  due  to 
deliver  impacted  the  tests  at  the  central  level,  in  particular  the  preparation  of  the  second 
Milestone  test.  The  related  risk  of  delay  to  the  overall  schedule  was  averted,  after  due 
consultation  with  the  Member  States,  through  the  use  of  the  SIS  II  test  tools.  These  latter 
tools, already foreseen for use during the Milestone 2 test, were fully qualified and validated 
in full transparency towards the Member States. The availability of one of the two SIS 1+ test 
tools  was  eventually  achieved  within  the  framework  and  for  the  purpose  of  the 
Comprehensive test.  

(iii)  Upon  the  confirmation  of  the  unavailability  of  the  originally  foreseen  principal  test 
manager (i.e. the Member States' SIS 1 contractor), an expert from one of the Member States 
took over this role after being appointed by the appropriate Council working party. Following 
an  invitation  from  the  Presidency,  the  Commission  undertook  to  implement  a  contractual 
solution to provide technical support to the Member States' test manager.  

Such challenges required a close cooperation between the Commission, the experts from the 
Member States within the Global Programme Management Board (GPMB) and the SIS-VIS 
Committee. Overall, the generally constructive approach of the stakeholders ensured that the 
project remained on track, both time-wise and budget-wise. 

2.2. Technical framework for finalising the project 

Tests  

The past months were devoted to testing activities to ascertain the proper functioning of the 
SIS  II  as  a  whole.  Several  test  campaigns  were  carried  out  during  this  reporting  period  in 
order  to  prove  the  stability,  proper  functioning  and  performance  of  both  the  central  and 
national systems.  

(a) CTE 

The  Compliance  test  -  extended  (CTE)  campaign  aims  at  verifying  the  compliance  of  the 
national systems with the SIS II specifications. By mid-June, the majority (26) of the Member 
States  had  successfully  completed  their  national  CTE  campaign.  However,  four  Member 
States still faced technical issues, which delayed their availability for the first groups of the 
Comprehensive  Test.  Shifting  the  majority  of  the  affected  Member  States  to  the  last  testing 
group  (group  4)  of  the  Comprehensive  test,  while  fixing  the  problems  in  close  cooperation 
with  the  Commission  and  the  contractors,  should  provide  the  time  for  the  necessary 
improvements to be accomplished by August 2012 at the latest. 

(b) CSQT without Member States 

Through carrying out thousands of test cases, the Central System qualification tests without 
Member  States  (CSQT  w/o  MS)  aimed  at  verifying  that  the  Central  System  meets  the 
functional as well as non-functional requirements. The link between the system's Central Unit 
(CU) in Strasbourg and the Back-up Central Unit (BCU) in St. Johann im Pongau was tested 
in order to ascertain the equivalence of data in the two databases. Started in July 2011, this 
test phase was completed in January 2012.  

(c) CSQT with Member States 

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Building  on  the  previous  test  campaign,  but  with  the  notable  difference  that  eight  active 
national  systems  participated  in  the  test,  the  Central  System  Qualification  Tests  with  the 
Member  States  (CSQT  MS)  started  on  16  January  2012  as  foreseen  and  ended  on  19 
February. The test was accepted on 27 April 2012.  

(d) PSAT 

The Provisional System Acceptance Test (PSAT) took place in March 2012. The PSAT lasted 
five days, during which the twelve volunteer Member States tested their data load on both the 
Central  and  Back-up  Central  Units.  The  analysis  of  the  results  indicates  that  both  units 
withstood the test without substantial problems, although certain re-testing was necessary at 
the  BCU.  Furthermore,  the  test  phase  highlighted  the  lack  of  robustness  of  certain  national 
systems,  which  had  to  be  replaced  by  simulators  in  the  course  of  the  execution  of  the  test. 
These national shortcomings have been duly addressed in the meanwhile. 

(e) The second Milestone test (M2) 

The highlight of the reporting period was the execution of the second Milestone test. This test 
was the second extra checkpoint included in the testing schedule of the project at the request 
of the JHA Council in June 20093.  

According to the June 2009 Council Conclusions, France was supposed to adapt certain SIS1 
testing tools to the purpose of the milestone tests. The first tool, which was due to record the 
transactions exchanged between the Central System and national systems, was abandoned in 
March  2012  whilst  the  second,  designed  to  analyse  the  records  in  order  to  determine  if  the 
system performance complies with the specifications, was only partly qualified by the time of 
the  Comprehensive  test  but  was  not  ready  for  the  second  Milestone  test.  As  a  mitigation 
measure  to  maintain  the  planned  system  go-live  in  March  2013  while  guaranteeing  the 
credibility of this testing campaign, it was decided in agreement with the majority of Member 
States'  experts  to  only  use  for  the  purpose  of  the  second  Milestone  those  testing  tools 
explicitly mentioned in the June 2009 Council Conclusion that were ready, namely the SIS II 
testing  tools  developed  by  the  Commission  contractors.  After  thorough  testing,  these  tools 
were qualified by all Member States.  

The core of the second Milestone took place between 2 and 7 May with the involvement of 
the  national  systems  of  eleven  Member  States.  The  central  system  and  the  national  systems 
exchanged uninterruptedly over two million standard transactions (consisting of the creation, 
update or deletion of SIS II alerts), thereby exceeding in five days the load of SIS 1 over an 
entire  month  as  well  as  the  requirements  set  out  in  the  June  2009  Council  Conclusions.  In 
parallel, the system also handled during these five days about 50 million queries to the Central 
Database, a functionality that does not exist in SIS 1. The test demonstrated that the Central 
and Back-up Unit remained fully synchronised. No interruption or drop out was experienced, 
only one Member State faced a short power cut but the Central system and National system 
efficiently managed this incident.  

In essence, the second Milestone test demonstrated the stability of the SIS II Central system 
under operational conditions. As explained in detail in the Commission's validation report, the 
Milestone's  objective  (i.e.  to  prove  the  stability,  reliability  and  performance  of  the  Central 

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System) was met. The entry, execution and exit conditions were satisfied. All twelve success 
criteria were passed.  

In accordance with the procedure set out in the June 2009 Council Conclusions4, the result of 
the test was technically assessed and validated by the Commission jointly with the GPMB and 
the SIS II Task Force on 26 June. Formal recognition of this positive verdict by COREPER 
and  Council  followed  in  July  2012.  The  Commission  also  officially  informed  the  European 
Parliament about the outcome of the test. 

(f) The Comprehensive test 

The final version of the comprehensive test plan outlining the final testing phase from June to 
September  2012  was  endorsed  by  the  Working  Party  on  Schengen  Matters  (SIS-TECH 
formation) on 24 May 2012. 

Taking  into  account  the  series  of  Central  system  tests  already  carried  out  and  the  positive 
outcome of the second Milestone test in particular, the Commission declared the readiness of 
the components for which it is responsible in COREPER of 30 May5 2012. The notification, 
made  in  compliance  with  the  SIS  II  legal  basis  allowed  stakeholders  to  proceed  to  the 
comprehensive test.  

Since  the  objective  of  the  comprehensive  test  is  to  test  the  performance  of  the  system  from 
end to end, substantial engagement of the Member States is required. In order to present the 
organisation  of  the  test  and  to  clarify  its  elements,  a  preparatory  technical  workshop  was 
organised on 31 May 2012. 

Following contractual constraints faced by the French administration not allowing appointing 
a  SIS  1  contractor  (as  initially  foreseen),  a  Member  State  expert  was  appointed  as  Member 
States' Test Manager for the Comprehensive test. However, at the request of Member States, 
the Commission  agreed to contractually cover support services of the SIS 1 contractor.  The 
GPMB assisted the test management team as well. The formal part of the Comprehensive test 
started  on  19  June  with  the  first  group  of  eight  Member  States,  to  be  followed  by  another 
three groups during the next semester. The first round of the test was completed on 27 June. 
According to a preliminary analysis, no major difficulty was identified either with the central 
or national systems. Exceptional issues, such as a  short  (one day) instability of  the  network 
monitoring tool or diverging views on the technical procedures in one test case were promptly 
resolved through overall good cooperation between the parties involved. 

4 

5 

The SIS II Task Force, consisting of the experts of the interested Member States, was established by the 
conclusions of the JHA Council of October 2006 in order to "assist the Council, in cooperation with the 
Commission,  on  the  management  and  coordination  of  the  SIS  II  project,  including  the  state  of 
preparedness of all Member States"  
Common  Article  8  (1)  of  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  1104/2008  of  24.10.2008  and  of  Council 
Decision 2008/839/JHA of 24.10.2008. 

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2.3. Preparations for migration 

A  converter  is  at  the  core  of  the  interim  migration  architecture  designed  to  allow  for  the 
transfer of the SIS 1 data to the new system6. 

After passing the Factory Acceptance Tests in October 2011, the converter was deployed to 
Strasbourg  and  tested  against  SIS  II  (System  Solution  Testing  -  SST1)  in  anticipation  of 
further  testing  with  SIS  1+.  Additionally  the  Commission  installed  and  tested  the  necessary 
SIS  1+  communication  components  in  the  converter  itself,  a  necessary  step  prior  to  linking 
the  converter  to  SIS  1+.  Preparations  were  made  to  connect  the  converter  to  the  test 
environment for the start of 2012.  

In  the  first  half  of  2012,  the  converter  was  tested  against  SIS  1+  (Qualification  Tests).  As 
from end of May 2012, the converter is being tested against both systems (System Solution 
Testing – Full Integration (SST2)). The preparations of the infrastructure were completed and 
functional tests started on 11 June 2012 as foreseen. This testing phase is to be completed by 
the  end  of  August  2012.  Following  a  phase  of  rehearsals,  the  next  step  will  be  live  data 
migration from SIS 1+ to SIS II early in 2013. 

Planning the migration 

The Commission proposed in May 2012 an amendment to the legal framework governing the 
actual  data  migration  (the  so-called  migration  instruments).  The  goals  are  to  align  the  legal 
provisions with the technical approach as agreed together with the Member States in 2011 and 
to provide an additional financial facility to Member States for well-defined migration related 
activities.  The  adoption  of  the  proposal  is  expected  in  the  second  half  of  2012  after  the 
European Parliament has also been consulted. 

The Commission is working closely with the Member States in writing the Migration Manual, 
a  document  setting  out  in  detail  the  steps  outlined  in  the  Migration  Plan.  A  migration 
workshop took place at the end of March on the Migration Manual where the Member States 
agreed  to  the  refined  switch-over  approach  -  the  Member  States  are  now  organised  in  four 
groups  instead  of  migrating  individually.  The  Manual  will  define  roles  and  responsibilities 
throughout the process and describe the detailed schedule for the migration. This task, which 
commenced in December 2011, must be finalised by the end of 2012.  

The migration legal instruments provide that the Member States participating in SIS 1+ shall 
conduct  a  test  on  supplementary  information  (functional  SIRENE  tests)7.  The  Commission 
continued  to  support  Member  States  in  their  preparations  to  review  the  technical 
specifications of data exchange between the SIRENE Bureaux, and in the elaboration of the 
detailed  test  description  for  the  SIRENE  Functional  tests,  an  activity  to  take  place  in  the 
second half of 2012.  

Between  February  and  June  2012  the  SISVIS  Committee  SIRENE  formation,  meeting  four 
times, reviewed and updated the SIRENE Manual  and other implementing measures  for the 

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Common  Article  10  (3)  of  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  1104/2008  of  24.10.2008  and  of  Council 
Decision 2008/839/JHA of 24.10.2008. 
Common  Article  9  (1)  of  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  1104/2008  and  of  Council  Decision 
2008/839/JHA. 

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purpose of SIS II in order to finalise SIRENE procedures and SIRENE forms by the time of 
the start of the SIRENE Functional tests in September 2012. The respective adoption of the 
Commission Implementing Decision is foreseen in the second half of the year.  

2.4. 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 central and national systems to communicate. 

For  operational  purposes,  Member  States  have  both  main  and  back-up  interfaces  with  the 
network.  During  the  reporting  period,  the  process  of  reactivating  Member  States'  back-up 
interfaces  in  order  to  prepare  for  tests  involving  switching  between  main  and  back-up  sites 
continued.  

The  SIS  II  legal  instruments  describe  the  communication  infrastructure  dedicated  to  SIS  II 
data  and  the  exchange  of  data  between  SIRENE  Bureaux8.  Following  the  Member  States 
confirmation of the technical specifications of the SIS II SIRENE mail relay, the Commission 
finalised the procurement procedures. The mail relay was installed in the first half of 2012, in 
anticipation of the Member States' test on supplementary information. The first phase of basic 
connectivity tests took place on 15-16 May. The second phase followed on 14-15 June. The 
results of the Basic Connectivity Tests of the second phase are being evaluated. A third, and 
final, phase is scheduled for 18 July 2012. 

2.5. Security  

The study on additional network security for SIS II was presented to the SIS-VIS Committee 
in the previous reporting period. A technical solution, complying with all requirements, was 
identified  and  a  pilot  project  subsequently  commenced.  The  necessary  equipment  was 
purchased  and  a  first  test  phase  was  run  between  October  2011  and  February  2012  in  a 
controlled environment. All technical options for the deployment of a solution were validated. 
The next step of the pilot project will be to perform a further test, for which the participation 
of  three  volunteer  Member  States  will  be  needed.  Germany  and  Austria  have  already  put 
themselves  forward  to  participate  and  a  further  volunteer  is  sought.  The  test  is  due  to  take 
place in September 2012.  

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Common Article 4 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) and of Council Decision 2007/533/JHA of 12 
June  2007  on  the  establishment,  operation  and  use  of  the  second  generation  Schengen  Information 
System (SIS II) (OJ L 205, 7.8.2007, p. 63). 

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3. 

MANAGEMENT  

3.1. Financial aspects  

SIS II budget 

By the end of the reporting period, the total budgetary commitments made by the Commission 
on the SIS II project since 2002, amounted to EUR 149 811 765. The corresponding 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, EUR 109 899 337 had actually been paid between 2002 and the end of June 
2012.  The  main  expenditure  items  were  development  (EUR 62 364 845),  the  network 
(EUR 27  379  985),  support  and  quality  assurance  (EUR 11  207  827)  and  preparation  for 
operational management in Strasbourg and Sankt Johann im Pongau (EUR 7 279 228). 

Budget execution 

From 2002 to June 2012 

From January to June 2012 

(EUR) 

Commitments  Payments 

Commitments  Payments 

Development 
(HP/Stéria) 

80 593 047 

59 285 803 

Development (Atos) 

3 535 041 

3 079 041 

0 

0 

8 213 662 

1 814 541 

Support  & 
assurance 

quality 

14 281 792 

11 207 827 

1 189 523 

1 715 330 

Network 

38 526 008 

27 379 985 

0 

2 396 868 

Operational 
management 
preparation 

9 201 624 

7 279 228 

235 730 

201 925 

Security 

1 358 310 

221 739 

0 

4 027 

Studies / Consultancy 

1 064 410 

963 207 

103 279 

20 947 

Information Campaign  33 373 

33 373 

Mission 

1 203 286 

434 259 

14 874 

14 874 

Experts 
Expenses 

Others 

TOTAL: 

0 

0 

0 

0 

117 682 

0 

149 811 765 

109 899 337 

1 528 532 

14 484 983 

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Additional financing for Member States' national development 

In  order  to  support  the  completion  of  national  projects  development  through  the  European 
External Borders Fund (EBF) a significant reallocation of resources towards SIS II national 
projects  was  undertaken  within  the  framework  of  the  2011  programming  for  the  EBF.  The 
Community  Actions  part  of  the  EBF  has  been  made  available  to  eight  Member  States  with 
constraints to accommodate their extra needs in their annual programmes for 2011. 

These projects commenced at the end of 2011 and are due to be completed in the late summer 
or early autumn of 2012.  

3.2. Operational management 

Following the adoption of the establishing Regulation in October 20119, the Agency for the 
operational  management  of  the  large-scale  IT  systems  in  the  area  of  freedom,  security  and 
justice will take up its responsibilities as regards the operational management of SIS II once 
this system is brought into operation.  

The Commission has been carrying out the necessary administrative tasks to get the Agency 
off  the  ground.  The  Member  States  and  the  Commission  nominated  their  representatives  to 
the  Agency  Management  Board  as  well  as  to  the  respective  advisory  groups.  In  line  with 
provisions  of  the  Agency  founding  regulation,  an  interim  Executive  Director  was  appointed 
on 16 April. 

The  Management  Board  met  twice  during  this  semester  -  the  inaugural  Management  Board 
meeting  took  place  on  22-23  March  2012  in  Tallinn  and  the  second  meeting  on  28  June, 
where  the  regular  Executive  Director  was  selected.  Following  a  statement  before  the  LIBE 
Committee  on  10  July,  the  European  Parliament  is  due  to  adopt  an  opinion  on  the  selected 
candidate. Subsequently, the successful candidate is due to be appointed by the Management 
Board via written procedure. The first meeting of the SIS II advisory group took place on 6-7 
June. 

Further preparatory activities are in process to set up the Agency and its working environment 
allowing it to perform the entrusted tasks from 1 December 2012 (i.e. recruitment of the staff, 
fitting  of  the  temporary  premises,  finalisation  of  the  key  documents  that  will  enable  the 
Agency to operate such as the work programme for 2012 and 2013, negotiation of agreements 
with host Member States and associated countries).  

3.3. Project management  

3.3.1. Global Programme Management Board (GPMB) 

Within the remit of its mandate as formalised by the migration legal instrument adopted on 3 
June  2010,  the  GPMB  continued  to  provide  advice  in  clarifying  a  great  variety  of  project-
related issues focused on the preparation for the second Milestone test and the Comprehensive 
test. The exchange of views between the Presidency, the Commission, several Member States' 

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experts and the Commission's main contracter further served the objective of the GPMB, that 
is to facilitate consistency between central and national SIS II projects.  

Twenty plenary GPMB meetings took place during the period covered by this report.  

3.3.2. SIS-VIS Committee (SIS II) 

There were five meetings of the SIS-VIS Committee on SIS II technical matters in the period 
January  –  June  2012.  Several  key  approvals  were  achieved  on  migration  and  testing  within 
this comitology framework.  

In  addition  to  regular  SIS-VIS  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 SIS-VIS Committee with an opinion 
on issues related to the organisation, implementation and interpretation of tests. This 
group held 23 meetings in the reporting period. 

The  Change  Management  Board  (CMB),  provides  advice  on  classification, 
qualification  and  the  potential  impact  of  correction  of  reported  issues.  Due  to  the 
amount  of  effort  expended  on  agreeing  the  updated  technical  specifications  of  the 
central  system  in  2010-11  and  the  subsequent  stabilisation  of  requirements,  this 
working  group,  which  also  reports  to  the  SIS-VIS  Committee,  was  not  formally 
convened during the reporting period. Member States and the Commission, however, 
reviewed and updated the CMB rules of procedure to allow Member States to assess 
whether  the  planned  changes  in  their  national  systems  are  in  compliance  with  the 
central system. 

• 

There was one SIS II Migration Workshop during this period. 

3.3.3. National planning and coordination 

A  working  group  composed  of  the  Member  States'  national  project  managers  (NPM)  is 
organised  to  advise  the  Commission  project  team.  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 five NPM meetings took place. 

3.3.4. Council  

In  line  with  the  Council  Conclusions  and  in  order  to  maintain  complete  transparency,  the 
Commission  keeps  the  Council  regularly  informed  about  the  implementation  of  the  Global 
Schedule for SIS II and expenditure on the central project.  

Across  the  Council  bodies,  the  Commission  continues to  participate  actively  in  meetings  as 
well as in their preparation. In seeking clarification and solutions to whatever issues may be 
raised  by  the  Member  States  the  contribution  of  the  Commission  goes  beyond  simply 
providing  regular  updates  on  the  state  of  play.  In  general,  thanks  to  the  overall  cooperative 
atmosphere the issues at stake were solved at the technical level. Thorough preparatory work, 
including  a  letter  sent  by  the  Commissioner  prior  to  the  April  JHA  Council,  resulted  in 
constructive progress at the Ministerial level.   

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

3.3.5. European Parliament 

Part of the appropriations for the SIS II project in the EU General Budget is held in reserve by 
the  European  Parliament.  The  Commission  keeps  the  European  Parliament  informed  on  the 
state  of  play  of  SIS  II.  In  addition  to  fulfilling  the  reporting  obligations  stemming  from  the 
SIS  II  legal  instruments  by  means  of  the  SIS  II  Progress  Report10,  in  line  with  the  Council 
Conclusions  of  5  June  2009,  the  Commission  provided  on  various  occasions  the  European 
Parliament representatives with updated information on financial, contractual and scheduling 
matters  and  the  status  of  the  project.  Finally,  the  Commission  responded  to  a  parliamentary 
question on SIS II related matters. 

3.3.6. Risk management 

The Commission closely monitors the risks in the SIS II project with the support of its Quality 
Assurance contractor. For each identified risk, a mitigation plan is established specifying the 
mitigation measures to be taken to manage the risk. The list of identified risks is being kept up 
to  date  every  week  and  is  presented  to  and  discussed  with  the  Global  Programme 
Management Board on a monthly basis.  

The main risks during the reporting period were the following: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

the encountered delays in the Compliance Tests Extended (CTE) 

the (un)availability of a fully qualified SFR tool 

the resource shortages at C.SIS side 

the limited time remaining for contingency in the migration schedule  

the possible delay of the migration legal instrument recast 

4. 

PRIORITIES FOR THE NEXT REPORTING PERIOD  

During the next reporting period, July to December 2012, there will be seven principal areas 
of activity: 

• 

• 

10 

the finalisation of CTE testing at national level 

the completion of the Comprehensive test 

Common Article 18 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1104/2008 and of Council Decision 2008/839/JHA. 

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• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

the adoption of the SIS II migration instruments recast 

the non-functional Converter System Solution Test 2 (SST2)  

the SIRENE functional tests 

the limited and global migration rehearsal 

the adoption of a Commission Implementing Decision on the SIRENE Manual and 
other implementing measures for SIS II  

5. 

CONCLUSIONS 

The  intensive  preparations  for  the  last  major  testing  rounds  and  subsequent  data  migration 
have  culminated  with  the  validation  of  the  second  Milestone  test  and  the  start  of  the 
comprehensive test.  

All  challenges  encountered  during  these  final  testing  phases  of  the  project  were  addressed 
successfully, thanks to the over-riding cooperative approach between Member States and the 
Commission, allowing the SIS II project to remain on track for the planned go-live in the first 
quarter of 2013. With considerable progress achieved in terms of maturity of the system the 
ground has been prepared for three key actions to be taken during the rest of 2012 in order to 
prepare  for  the  migration  between  SIS1+  and  SIS  II.  These  are  the  completion  of  the 
comprehensive  test,  the  SIRENE  Functional  test  and  the  adoption  of  the  migration 
instruments. 

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SIS-VIS Committee (SIS II) and Working Group Meetings 

Meetings held during the reporting period  

JANUARY 2012 

5, 11, 18, 24  SIS II Global Programme Management Board 

25  SIS II National Project Managers Meeting 

25  SIS-VIS Committee (SIS II Technical Formation Meeting) 

10, 17, 24, 31  SIS II TAG meeting (Test Advisory Group) 

FEBRUARY 2012 

1, 8, 15, 23, 

29  SIS II Global Programme Management Board 

22  SIS II National Project Managers Meeting 

22  SIS-VIS Committee (SIS II Technical Formation Meeting) 

7, 14, 21, 28  SIS II TAG meeting (Test Advisory Group) 

MARCH 2012 

6, 14, 22, 27  SIS II Global Programme Management Board 

21  SIS-VIS Committee (SIS II Technical Formation Meeting) 

21  SIS II National Project Managers Meeting 

6, 13, 20, 27  SIS II TAG meeting (Test Advisory Group) 

28  SIS II Migration Workshop 

APRIL 2012 

3, 11, 19, 25  SIS II Global Programme Management Board 

10, 17, 24  SIS II TAG meeting (Test Advisory Group) 

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2, 7, 10, 16, 

29  SIS II Global Programme Management Board 

30  SIS-VIS Committee (SIS II Technical Formation Meeting) 

30  SIS II National Project Managers Meeting 

31 

 Workshop on the SIS II Comprehensive Test execution 

8, 15, 22, 29  SIS II TAG meeting (Test Advisory Group) 

JUNE 2012 

13, 20, 26, 27  SIS II Global Programme Management Board 

27  SIS-VIS Committee (SIS II Technical Formation Meeting) 

27  SIS II National Project Managers' Meeting 

5, 12, 19, 26  SIS II TAG meeting (Test Advisory Group) 

SIS-VIS Committee (SIS II) and Working Group Meetings 

b) Meetings provisionally scheduled during the forthcoming reporting period 

JULY 2012 

4, 10, 18, 24 

 SIS II Global Programme Management Board 

26  SIS-VIS Committee (SIS II Technical Formation Meeting) 

26  SIS II National Project Managers' Meeting 

3,  10,  17,  24, 
31  

SIS II TAG meeting (Test Advisory Group) 

AUGUST 2012 

1, 8, 22, 29  SIS II Global Programme Management Board 

7  ,  14  ,  21  , 
28  

SIS II TAG meeting (Test Advisory Group) 

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SEPTEMBER 2012 

5  ,  12  ,  19  , 
26  

SIS II Global Programme Management Board 

27  SIS-VIS Committee (SIS II Technical Formation Meeting)) 

27  SIS II National Project Managers' Meeting 

4 , 11 , 18 , 

25   SIS II TAG meeting (Test Advisory Group) 

OCTOBER 2012  

3, 10 , 17 , 

24, 31   SIS II Global Programme Management Board 

26  SIS-VIS Committee (SIS II Technical Formation Meeting)) 

26  SIS II National Project Managers' Meeting 

2 , 9, 16 , 23 , 

30   SIS II TAG meeting (Test Advisory Group) 

7 , 14 , 21, 28   SIS II Global Programme Management Board 

NOVEMBER 2012 

29  SIS-VIS Committee (SIS II Technical Formation Meeting)) 

29  SIS II National Project Managers' Meeting 

6 , 13 , 20 , 

27   SIS II TAG meeting (Test Advisory Group) 

DECEMBER 2012 

5 , 12 , 19   SIS II Global Programme Management Board 

20  SIS-VIS Committee (SIS II Technical Formation Meeting)) 

20  SIS II National Project Managers' Meeting 

4 , 11 , 18   SIS II TAG meeting (Test Advisory Group) 

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