REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the state of play of preparations for the full implementation of the new legal bases for the Schengen Information System (SIS) in accordance with Article 66(4) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1861 and Article 79(4) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1862
Date: 2020-02-28
Institutions: Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, European Commission
Subjects: EU migration policy, Europol, Frontex, Schengen Information System, application of EU law, biometrics, border control, exchange of information, external border of the EU, information system

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 28.2.2020  COM(2020) 72 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the state of play of preparations for the full implementation of the new legal bases for the Schengen Information System (SIS) in accordance with Article 66(4) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1861 and Article 79(4) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1862    
 
 
1. 

INTRODUCTION 

On  28  November  2018,  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  adopted  three  new 
Regulations  on  the  establishment,  operation  and  use  of  the  Schengen  Information  System 
(SIS)1. The new SIS regulations widen the scope of application and functionalities of SIS in 
the following areas: 

  new categories of alerts and more possibilities afforded by existing categories of alerts; 
  extension of categories of data in SIS alerts; 
  new technical possibilities; 
  new biometric capabilities; 
  wider access to SIS alerts at national and European level. 

The new provisions need to be implemented in different phases. The following milestones for 
implementation are defined in the regulations: 

1)  implementation phase I (to be ready for entry into operation by end 2019): Europol and 
members  of  the  teams  deployed  by  the  European  Border  and  Coast  Guard  Agency2  are 
allowed to access all categories of alerts in SIS; 

2)  implementation phase II (to be ready for entry into operation by end 2020): all Member 
States are able to use the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) for searches 
on the basis of fingerprints in SIS; 

3)  implementation  phase  III  (to  be  ready  for  entry  into  operation  by  end  2021):  full 

implementation of all provisions of the new SIS regulations. 

In  that  respect,  the  new  regulations  lay  down  that,  no  later  than  28  December  2021,  the 
Commission is to adopt a decision setting the date in which the operations of SIS pursuant to 
the new regulations start. In order to achieve this objective, it is necessary that by that time: 

1  

Regulation (EU) 2018/1860 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 November 2018 on the 
use of the Schengen Information System for the return of illegally staying third-country nationals OJ L 312, 
7.12.2018, p. 1; 

2  

     Regulation (EU) 2018/1861 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 November 2018 on the 
establishment, operation and use of the Schengen Information System (SIS) in the field of border checks, 
and  amending  the  Convention  implementing  the  Schengen  Agreement,  and  amending  and  repealing 
Regulation (EC) No 1987/2006 OJ L 312, 7.12.2018, p. 14;  
Regulation (EU) 2018/1862 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 November 2018 on the 
establishment,  operation  and  use  of  the  Schengen  Information  System  (SIS)  in  the  field  of  police 
cooperation  and  judicial  cooperation  in  criminal  matters,  amending  and  repealing  Council  Decision 
2007/533/JHA,  and  repealing  Regulation  (EC)  No  1986/2006  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council and Commission Decision 2010/261/EU OJ L 312, 7.12.2018, p. 56. 
In accordance with the new SIS Regulations, the members of the teams referred to in points (8) and (9) of 
Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2016/1624 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 September 
2016 on the European Border and Coast Guard and amending Regulation (EU) 2016/399 of the European 
Parliament and of the Council will have the right to access and search data in SIS insofar it is necessary for 
the  performance  of  their  tasks  and  as  required  for  the  operational  plan  for  a  specific  operation.  In 
accordance  with  Regulation  (EU)  2019/1896  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  13 
November 2019 on the European Border and Coast Guard and repealing Regulations (EU) No 1052/2013 
and  (EU)  2016/1624,  the  European  Border  and  Coast  Guard  Agency  provides  its  operational  support 
through  the  deployment  of  the  European  Border  and  Coast  Guard  standing  corps  forming  border 
management teams, migration management support teams and return teams. 

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  all the necessary implementing acts have been adopted; 
  Member States have notified the Commission that they have made the necessary technical 

and legal arrangements; and  

  eu-LISA  has  notified  the  Commission  about  the  successful  completion  of  all  testing 

activities.  

Article 66(4) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1861 and Article 79(4) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1862 
call on the Commission to submit on an annual basis a report to the European Parliament and 
the  Council  on  the  state  of  play  of  preparations  for  the  full  implementation  of  the  new  SIS 
regulations.  

This first status report describes the preparatory work done by the Commission, agencies and 
Member  States  from  1  January  2019  until  30  September  2019.  It  is  based  on  information 
provided  by  Member  States  and  agencies  through  questionnaires  and  results  achieved  in 
meetings and workshops. 

2.  STATE  OF  PLAY  OF  PREPARATIONS  FOR  IMPLEMENTATION  OF  THE 

NEW SIS REGULATIONS  

2.1. 

Stakeholders 

Different stakeholders need to work closely together in order to achieve full implementation 
of the new SIS regulations by the end of 2021. 

The Commission is responsible for monitoring the implementation process, ensuring correct 
and  harmonised  implementation  of  the  legal  provisions,  and  for  adopting  the  necessary 
implementing and delegated acts. 

eu-LISA  is  responsible  for  developing  Central  SIS  and  the  Communication  Infrastructure, 
including preparing technical specifications, testing and putting the new SIS into operation by 
the required deadlines. 

Member  States  are  responsible  for  developing  their  national  systems  in  line  with  the 
developments  within  Central  SIS,  and  for  completing  all  necessary  legal  and  procedural 
preparations  for  the  processing  of  SIS  data  and  supplementary  information,  in  line  with  the 
new SIS regulations.  

The  European  Border  and  Coast  Guard  Agency,  Europol  and  Eurojust  are  responsible  for 
ensuring  that  all  preparations  are  done  to  allow  their  authorised  users  to  access  SIS  data  in 
accordance with the new SIS regulations. 

2.2.  Commission 

2.2.1.  Coordination of activities and involvement of stakeholders 

The  Commission  has  set  up  in  January  2019  a  network  of  experts  from  Member  States’ 
competent authorities and EU agencies, to coordinate the activities and assist the Commission 
in several tasks: 

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  within the context of the Expert Group on Information Systems for Borders and Security3, 
a  SIS  Subgroup  and  SIRENE4  Subgroup  have  been  set  up;  the  tasks  of  the  SIS 
Subgroup  are  to  provide  the  Commission  with  expert  advice  on  technical  options  to 
achieve  correct  implementation  of  the  new  provisions  and  functionalities  of  SIS,  and  to 
prepare delegated  acts; the task of the SIRENE  Subgroup is  to  provide the Commission 
with expert advice on the required modifications in SIRENE procedures; 

  a  Committee5  (“SIS-SIRENE  Police”  and  “SIS-SIRENE  Borders”),  has  been  set  up  to 
assist  the  Commission  in  the  preparations  of  the  necessary  implementing  acts;  the 
Committee is the main decision body to endorse recommendations made by experts in the 
SIS and SIRENE Subgroups or in technical meetings led by eu-LISA. 

The Commission participates actively in activities and technical meetings led by eu-LISA and 
ensures  coordination  of  activities  of  different  stakeholders  through  regular  meetings  of  the 
SIS-SIRENE Committee.  

2.2.2.  Definition of requirements for technical developments 

As a first step, the work of the Commission and Member States’ experts focused on preparing 
requirements  for  technical  developments  within  the  Central  SIS  in  line  with  the  new 
regulations. 

The  main  work  on  defining  the  requirements  related  to  the  non-biometric  part  of  SIS  was 
completed in April 2019. Following endorsement by the SIS-SIRENE Committee, the agreed 
points were either sent to eu-LISA for further technical discussions with Member States and 
inclusion in technical specifications or incorporated into the draft of new implementing acts.  

The new SIS regulations also require a significant development of the  biometric capabilities 
of  SIS.  The  Commission’s  Joint  Research  Centre  carried  out  three  studies  on  the 
implementation  of  the  new  biometric  capabilities  in  SIS,  on  finger-mark  and  palm-mark 
identification, on face identification and on DNA profiles.6 The studies, which were finalised 
in  June 2019, concluded that it is  possible to  use those technologies in  SIS and made some 
recommendations. The Joint Research Center also continuously supports the Commission and 
eu-LISA during technical discussions with Member States.  

2.2.3.  Preparation of technical implementing measures 

The  Commission  started  drafting  implementing  measures,  focusing  primarily  on  technical 
rules on entering and processing alphanumeric data in SIS. At the end of the reporting period, 
broad agreement has been reached between Member States and Commission on the substance 

https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regexpert/index.cfm?do=groupDetail.groupDetail&groupID=3643 
Supplementary Information Request at the National Entries. 
https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regcomitology/index.cfm?do=List.list  

3  
4  
5  
6   Haraksim R., Galbally J., Beslay L.,  Study on Fingermark and Palmmark  Identification Technologies for 
their  Implementation  in  the  Schengen  Information  System,  EUR  29755  EN,  Publications  Office  of  the 
European Union, Luxembourg, 2019; 
 J. Galbally, P. Ferrara, R. Haraksim, A. Psyllos, L. Beslay, Study on Face Identification Technology for its 
Implementation in the Schengen Information System, EUR 29808 EN, Publications Office of the European 
Union, Luxembourg, 2019; 

     Angers  A,  Kagkli  DM,  Oliva  L,  Petrillo  M,  Raffael  B,  Study  on  DNA  Profiling  Technology  for  its 
Implementation  in  the  Central  Schengen  Information System,  EUR  29766  EN, Publications  Office  of  the 
European Union, Luxembourg, 2019.  

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of those implementing measures. The Commission intends to initiate the adoption procedure 
in  2020.  The  Commission  intends  to  update  the  existing  implementing  act  on  quality  of 
biometric  data7  in  the  course  of  2020  on  the  basis  of  the  recommendations  of  the  Joint 
Research Center and the outcome of technical discussions in this area led by eu-LISA. 

2.2.4.  Preparation of update of SIRENE Manual 

The SIRENE Manual8 is an implementing act that sets out the procedures for the exchange of 
supplementary  information  related  to  SIS  alerts.  Due  to  the  different  milestones  for 
implementation laid down in the new regulations, the update of the SIRENE Manual needs to 
be completed in two phases: 

  Phase  I  relates  to  updates  necessary  for  the  exchange  of  supplementary  information 
between Member States and Europol; this review needs to be completed before Europol is 
technically connected to the SIRENE network (planned for 2020); 

  Phase  II  relates  to  the  complete  update  of  the  SIRENE  Manual,  including  all  new 

procedures required in view of the new regulations. 

Concerning phase I, the Commission prepared a proposal for review of the current SIRENE 
Manual  and  submitted  it  for  discussion  to  the  Committee  on  12  September  2019.  The 
Commission  intends  to  finalise  the  review  in  the  course  of  2020  before  Europol  will  be 
technically connected to the SIRENE network. 

With regard to the changes required under  phase II, the Commission analysed together with 
the  SIRENE  Subgroup  the  requirements  for  new  SIRENE  procedures  or  for  updates  of 
existing procedures in several areas. Several meetings are planned outside the reporting period 
with  the  aim  to  reach  a  common  agreement  on  the  substance  of  the  main  provisions  by  the 
beginning  of  2020.  Once  agreement  on  the  substance  has  been  reached,  the  following  steps 
are to be made:  

 

inclusion of new or revised procedures in the revised SIRENE Manual and discussion and 
approval in the Committee (activity led by the Commission); 

  update  of  technical  specifications  for  the  data  exchange  between  SIRENE  Bureaux 

(activity led by eu-LISA); 

  update of national SIRENE workflow systems in line with the technical specifications for 

data exchange (activity led by Member States and Europol). 

7   Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/1345 of 4 August 2016 on minimum data quality standards 
for fingerprint records within the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) (notified under 
document C(2016) 4988). OJ L 213, 6.8.2016, p. 15. 
Commission  Implementing  Decision  (EU)  2017/1528  of  31  August  2017  replacing  the  Annex  to 
Implementing  Decision  2013/115/EU  on  the  SIRENE  Manual  and  other  implementing  measures  for  the 
second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) (OJ L 231, 7.9.2017, p. 6). 

8 

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2.3. 

eu-LISA 

2.3.1.  Planning and budget 

eu-LISA has planned a start of operations in two phases: 

  Phase  I:  in  December  2019,  the  first  official  release  will  be  ready  for  deployment;  this 
release  will  give  Europol  full  access  to  SIS  and  allow  the  European  Border  and  Coast 
Guard Agency to establish a technical connection to SIS;  

  Phase II: in December 2021 the second official release with all changes related to the new 
regulations  will  be  delivered  and  enter  into  operation;  prior  to  this,  eu-LISA  plans  to 
perform four sets of tests. 

Article 5(3) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1861 has allocated an amount of EUR 31 098 000 to eu-
LISA  for  carrying  out  the  technical  developments  concerning  Central  SIS  and  the 
Communication  Infrastructure,  as  well  as  related  technical  training  activities.  This  status 
report does not yet contain a detailed overview of the costs incurred because the first reporting 
period is very short.  

2.3.2.  Coordination of activities 

eu-LISA  has  decided  to  separate  the  technical  discussions  related  to  the  implementation  of 
new  biometric  capabilities  within  SIS  from  the  discussions  related  to  developments  in  the 
non-biometric  part  of  SIS.  The  activities  of  eu-LISA  and  their  contractors  in  relation  to  the 
technical developments in both areas are coordinated through a double Program Management 
Forum  (PMF)  structure  (“AFIS  PMF”  dealing  with  biometrics,  and  “SIS  Recast  PMF” 
dealing  with  the  non-biometric  part).  Participants  in  the  PMF  structure  include  the 
Commission,  project  managers  of  all  Member  States  and  agencies  and  the  eu-LISA  project 
team. 

2.3.3.  Preparation of technical specifications for the non-biometric part of Central SIS 

eu-LISA started its  main activities for the non-biometric part of SIS in  May  2019, after the 
SIS  Subgroup  finalised  the  list  of  requirements  and  significant  progress  on  technical 
implementing measures was reached in the SIS-SIRENE Committee. A first draft of the User 
Requirements  Document  was  delivered  to  all  stakeholders  on  2  September  2019.  A  first 
version of the Interface Control Document / Detailed Technical Specification will be provided 
by eu-LISA in October 2019. The plan is to finalise the work on those specifications by the 
beginning of 2020. 

eu-LISA  has  signed  specific  contracts  for  the  development  of  Central  SIS  as  part  of  the 
framework contract for the Maintenance in Working Order of SIS. 

2.3.4.  Preparation of technical specifications for the biometric part of Central SIS 

The biometric  component  of Central  SIS (“SIS  AFIS”) has  entered into  operation in  March 
2018.  The  new  SIS  regulations  require  important  modifications  to  the  existing  AFIS.  In 
particular,  biometric  searches  will  be  extended  with  new  categories  of  dactyloscopic  data 
(palm  prints  and  latents).  In  addition,  the  new  SIS  regulations  require  Member  States  to  be 
able to use the fingerprint search functionality in all operational circumstances.  

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eu-LISA has launched the “AFIS Phase 2 project” to further develop SIS AFIS according to 
those requirements. At first, the project focuses on the “Analysis and Design” aspects of the 
evolution, covering the preliminary work on project initiation, requirements, specification and 
preliminary  design  for  SIS  AFIS  Phase  2.  The  User  Requirements  Document  and  Interface 
Control  Document  /  Detailed  Technical  Specification  will  be  finalised  by  the  end  of  2019. 
The second phase “Implementation” will start in the beginning of 2020. 

2.4.  Member States 

2.4.1.  Scope 

This report only covers the Member States that are currently connected to SIS. It concerns all 
EU Member States  except  Ireland and Cyprus, and the four Schengen Associated Countries 
(30  States)9.  It  concerns  also  the  United  Kingdom  under  the  provisions  of  the  Withdrawal 
Agreement. 

2.4.2.  Budget 

Article 5(4) of the Regulation (EU) 2018/1861 has allocated to Member States an additional 
global allocation of EUR 36 810 000 to be devoted to the quick and effective upgrade of the 
national systems concerned. A first amount of EUR 18 405 000 has been committed in 2019. 

2.4.3.  State of play of deployment of SIS AFIS (to be completed by end 2020) 

The Commission requested Member States to report on the state of play of their preparations 
for the deployment of SIS AFIS during the Committee meeting of 13 June. All Member States 
replied. The status until the end of the reporting period (30 September 2019) is the following: 

  19 Member States have already deployed the AFIS search functionality; 

  3 Member States have planned to deploy the AFIS search functionality still in 2019; 

  2 Member States have planned to deploy the AFIS search functionality in 2020; 

  6  Member  States  did  not  give  a  detailed  timeline  for  deployment  in  their  reply  to  the 
questionnaire; the Commission will closely follow up the state of implementation of those 
Member States during the next reporting period (1 October 2019 – 30 September 2020). 

2.4.4.  Preparations for the full implementation of the new legal basis (to be completed in the 

course of 2021) 

Preparations by Member States are crucial because the Commission can only set the date from 
which the new SIS starts operation after the Member States have notified the Commission that 
they have made the necessary technical and legal arrangements.  

It has to be noted that the activities done by Member States are still at a preliminary stage as 
Member States may only fully start developing their national systems when the specifications 

9  

List  of  EU  and  Schengen  Member  States  that  answered  the  questionnaires:  Austria,  Belgium,  Bulgaria, 
Croatia,  Czech  Republic,  Denmark,  Estonia,  Finland,  France,  Germany,  Greece,  Hungary,  Iceland,  Italy, 
Latvia,  Lithuania,  Liechtenstein,  Luxembourg,  Malta,  the  Netherlands,  Norway,  Poland,  Portugal, 
Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland. 

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for  the  developments  within  Central  SIS  are  set  and  the  technical  documentation  has  been 
finalised (beginning of 2020).   

The  Commission  has  asked  Member  States  to  report  through  a  questionnaire  launched  on 
11 July 2019 on preparations done at national level. All Member States concerned responded. 
Member States were requested to provide input in the following areas: 

  project planning and management; 

 

internal coordination; 

 

impact  assessment  in  terms  of  budget,  human  resources,  organisation  and  national 
legislation. 

In terms of project planning, almost half of the Member States (14 respondents) have already 
started  to  define  or  have  defined  a  project  plan  and  related  milestones;  the  other  half  (16 
respondents) plans to do this by the end of 2019 – beginning of 2020. In addition, the majority 
of  Member  States  (24  respondents)  have  established  or  will  establish  in  the  near  future  a 
specific  project  team  and  assigned  a  project  manager;  five  Member  States  will  manage  the 
SIS  implementation  through  existing  departments  or  teams  and  one  Member  State  has  not 
clarified  yet  how  it  will  manage  the  implementation  internally.  A  large  majority  of  the 
respondents  (26)  envisage  to  establish  cooperation  at  national  level  between  competent 
authorities. 

In  terms  of  impact  assessment,  the  Member  States  are  currently  at  different  stages  of 
preparation10: 

budgetary impact assessment: 

  18 Member States have completed the assessment in 2019; 

  8 Member States will complete the assessment in 2020; 

  2 Member States will start the assessment in 2020; 

human resources needs assessment: 

  9 Member States have completed the assessment in 2019; 

  9 Member States will complete the assessment in 2020; 

  5 Member States will start the assessment end 2019 – beginning 2020; 

organisational needs assessment: 

  7 Member States have completed the assessment in 2019; 

10   Not  all  Member  States  were  able  to  provide  a  specific  assessment  for  each  of  the  categories  taken  into 

account in the questionnaire.  

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  9 Members State will complete the assessment by 2020;  

  10 Member State have reported that they will start the assessment end 2019 – beginning 

2020; 

assessment of impact on national legislation: 

  9 Member States have completed the assessment in 2019; 

  12 Member States will complete the assessment in 2020;  

  1 Member State will complete the assessment in the beginning of 2021. 

The  Commission  will  continue  to  closely  follow  up  the  preparatory  activities  by  Member 
States during the regular meetings of the SIS-SIRENE Committee. 

2.5.  Agencies 

This part of the report focuses on preparations done by Europol and the European Border and 
Coast Guard Agency as the provisions impacting those agencies enter into application already 
by end 2019 (they are covered by the first implementation phase).  

The changes impacting Eurojust are minimal and only apply as from end 2021. Therefore, the 
present status report does not include preparations by Eurojust. 

2.5.1.  Europol 

Europol  already  is  a  user  of  SIS  under  the  current  SIS  regulations.  The  new  regulations 
include for Europol modifications in the following two areas:  

  access to all categories of alerts in SIS, and  

  connection to the SIRENE network.  

The new provisions apply from the end of 2019. 

During  the  first  reporting  period,  Europol  has  upgraded  its  existing  interface  to  access  SIS 
alerts  through  a  Unified  Search  Engine  to  be  deployed  as  from  December  2019.  The 
implementation  has  been  finalised  and  integration  tests  with  eu-LISA  are  planned  for  the 
fourth quarter of 2019. 

Europol  aims  to  be  ready  for  the  connection  to  the  SIRENE  network  by  end  2020.  The 
SIRENE function is planned to be established within the Front Office/Operational Centre at 
Europol which has 24/7 capabilities. Europol plans to integrate the SIRENE mail relay into its 
own message exchange system SIENA (Secure Information Exchange Network Application) 
to ensure data integrity and an efficient workflow. 

Additionally, Europol carried out the following preparatory activities: 

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  during 2019, Europol’s internal procedures were adjusted to include the new capabilities 
which relate to the full access to SIS; during 2020, further updates will be done to include 
the connection to the SIRENE mail relay and supplementary information exchange; 

  study visits to SIRENE offices aiming to collect best practices were done; and 

  prior consultation of the European Data Protection Supervisor has started.  

Europol’s budget for the extension of the access to all categories of SIS alerts is EUR 70 596. 

2.5.2.  European Border and Coast Guard Agency  

Under the new SIS regulations, the members of the teams deployed by the European Border 
and Coast Guard Agency have as from end 2019 the right to access all categories of alerts in 
SIS. The members of those teams need to access SIS through a technical interface set up and 
maintained by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency.  

For that purpose, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency has prepared and approved in 
2019 a project consisting of the following parts: 

  development of a system, composed of a technical interface located at the headquarters of 
the  European  Border  and  Coast  Guard  Agency,  a  web  application  and  a  mobile 
application for connection to the database;  

  delivery of equipment;  

  development  of  procedures  and  rules  for  using  the  system,  including  communication 

channels, rules and cooperation with the hosting Member States’ authorities; and 

  end-users training. 

The  total  duration  of  the  project  is  estimated  at  25  months,  with  the  possibility  of  querying 
SIS  after  19  months  (by  mid-2021).  The  last  six  months  will  be  dedicated  solely  to  the 
development of a mobile application. 

In  addition,  the  European  Border  and  Coast  Guard  Agency  has  undertaken  the  following 
activities during the reporting period: 

  Project Managers and Steering Committee have been appointed, Business Case has been 

prepared and approved by the Steering Committee on 18 September 2019; 

  working level contact with eu-LISA has been established; and 

  consultation with the Data Protection Officer has started. 

The European Border and Coast Guard Agency has estimated for the full project a budget of 
EUR 3 489 200 and yearly recurring costs of EUR 212 000. 

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3.  CONCLUSIONS 

During the first reporting period (1 January – 30 September 2019), the different stakeholders 
have  made  significant  progress  to  achieve  implementation  of  the  new  SIS  regulations  in 
accordance with the defined milestones: 

1)  implementation  phase  I  (end  2019):  eu-LISA  has  made  the  necessary  preparations  to 
extend full access to SIS to Europol, and to allow the European Border and Coast Guard 
Agency to connect to SIS; Europol will have access to all alert categories in SIS as from 
end  2019;  the  European  Border  and  Coast  Guard  Agency  has  provided  funding  and 
initiated a project allowing the members of its teams to get access to SIS in 2021;  

2)  implementation  phase  II  (end  2020):  at  the  end  of  the  reporting  period,  19  Member 
States have deployed the fingerprint search functionality; 11 Member States still need to 
deploy the functionality by the end of 2020; 

3)  implementation phase III (end 2021): during the reporting period, activities have been 
coordinated  by  the  Commission  and  eu-LISA  to  prepare  implementing  measures  and 
technical  specifications  required  for  full  implementation  of  the  new  SIS  regulations;  the 
main  preparatory  work  is  planned  to  be  finalised  by  the  beginning  of  2020,  in  order  to 
give  sufficient  time  to  Member  States  to  initiate  their  national  implementation  projects; 
Member  States  have  started  preparatory  activities  at  national  level  to  be  ready  for  entry 
into operation by the end of 2021. 

The implementation of the new SIS regulations is closely connected to the implementation of 
interoperability of information systems for borders and security. The Commission has set up, 
together  with  the  eu-LISA  Management  Board  and  the  European  Border  and  Coast  Guard 
Agency, a mechanism to monitor progress in all interrelated projects and detect any issues at 
an early stage. 

The  next  status  report,  which  is  due  on  28  December  2020,  will  cover  a  full  year  and  will 
describe the activities of stakeholders during the next reporting period, from 1 October 2019 
until 30 September 2020. 

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