Article 54 Responsibilities of eu-LISA during the design and development phase
1. eu-LISA shall ensure that the central infrastructures of the interoperability components are operated in accordance with this Regulation. 2. The interoperability components shall be hosted by eu-LISA in its technical sites and shall provide the functionalities laid down in this Regulation in accordance with the conditions of security, availability, quality and performance referred to in Article 55(1). 3. eu-LISA shall be responsible for the development of the interoperability components and for any adaptations required for establishing interoperability between the central systems of the EES, VIS, ETIAS, SIS, Eurodac, ECRIS-TCN, and the ESP, the shared BMS, the CIR, the MID and the CRRS. Without prejudice to Article 66, eu-LISA shall not have access to any of the personal data processed through the ESP, the shared BMS, the CIR or the MID. eu-LISA shall define the design of the physical architecture of the interoperability components including their communication infrastructures and the technical specifications and their evolution as regards the central infrastructure and the secure communication infrastructure, which shall be adopted by the Management Board, subject to a favourable opinion of the Commission. eu-LISA shall also implement any necessary adaptations to the EES, VIS, ETIAS or SIS deriving from the establishment of interoperability and provided for by this Regulation. The development shall consist of the elaboration and implementation of the technical specifications, testing and overall project management and coordination. 4. During the design and development phase, a Programme Management Board composed of a maximum of 10 members shall be established. It shall be composed of seven members appointed by eu-LISA's Management Board from among its members or its alternates, the chair of the Interoperability Advisory Group referred to in Article 75, a member representing eu-LISA appointed by its Executive Director, and one member appointed by the Commission. The members appointed by eu-LISA's Management Board shall be elected only from those Member States that are fully bound under Union law by the legal instruments governing the development, establishment, operation and use of all the EU information systems and which will participate in the interoperability components. 5. The Programme Management Board shall meet regularly and at least three times per quarter. It shall ensure the adequate management of the design and development phase of the interoperability components. Every month, the Programme Management Board shall submit written reports on progress of the project to eu-LISA's Management Board. The Programme Management Board shall have no decision-making power, nor any mandate to represent the members of eu-LISA's Management Board. 6. eu-LISA's Management Board shall establish the rules of procedure of the Programme Management Board, which shall include in particular rules on: (a) chairmanship; (b) meeting venues; (c) preparation of meetings; (d) admission of experts to the meetings; (e) communication plans ensuring that non-participating Members of the Management Board are kept fully informed. The chairmanship shall be held by a Member State that is fully bound under Union law by the legal instruments governing the development, establishment, operation and use of all the EU information systems and which will participate in the interoperability components. All travel and subsistence expenses incurred by the members of the Programme Management Board shall be paid by eu-LISA, and Article 10 of the eu-LISA Rules of Procedure shall apply mutatis mutandis . eu-LISA shall provide the Programme Management Board with a secretariat. The Interoperability Advisory Group referred to in Article 75 shall meet regularly until the start of operations of the interoperability components. It shall report after each meeting to the Programme Management Board. It shall provide the technical expertise to support the tasks of the Programme Management Board and shall follow up on the state of preparation of the Member States.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal In September 2018, the Council and the European Parliament adopted two legislative acts, a Regulation establishing the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (‘ETIAS’) 1 and an amendment of the Europol Regulation for the purpose of establishing ETIAS 2 . Establishing ETIAS is among efforts undertaken in recent years at EU level to enhance the security of citizens and prevent irregular migration in an open Europe, securing and continuing to strengthen the management of external borders 3 , 4 . The context and the establishment of the system were announced in the 2016 State of the Union speech. President Juncker said: ‘ We will defend our borders […] with strict controls […] on everyone crossing them. Every time someone enters or exits the EU, there will be a record of when, where and why. In November [2016] we will propose a European travel information and authorisation system – an automated system to determine who will be allowed to travel to Europe. That way we will know who is travelling to Europe before they even get here ” . ETIAS will fill the information gap on travellers exempt from the requirement of being in possession of a visa when crossing the external borders. ETIAS will determine the eligibility of visa-exempt third-country nationals prior to their travel to the Schengen Area and whether such travel poses a security, irregular migration or high epidemic risk. ETIAS will also give travellers confidence that they would be able to cross the borders smoothly. If needed, ETIAS travel authorisation could be denied by ETIAS National Units. The assessment of such risks will involve automated processing of personal data provided in the applications for travel authorisation. The ETIAS Regulation establishes that personal data in the applications will be compared with the data present in records, files or alerts registered in EU information systems or databases (the ETIAS Central System, Schengen Information System (‘SIS’), the Visa Information System (‘VIS’), the Entry/Exit System ‘(EES’) or Eurodac), in Europol data or in the Interpol databases (the Interpol Stolen and Lost Travel Document database (‘SLTD’) or the Interpol Travel Documents Associated with Notices database (‘TDAWN’)) 5 . While the Regulation defines in its Article 20 which group of data from the ETIAS application files can be used to consult the other systems, not all those data are collected or recorded in the same way in the other EU information systems and Europol data. For instance in one of the systems, ‘country of issue of the travel document’ is collected while in another the same data is recorded in another way, e.g. as ‘three letter code of the issuing country of the travel document’. In other instances, a category of data is collected in one system but not in the other. For instance, ‘first names of parents of applicants’ are collected by ETIAS, but not in most of the other systems to be queried by ETIAS. Also at the time the ETIAS proposal 6 was adopted, the situation as regards the different EU information systems to be queried by ETIAS was different from today. At the time the ETIAS proposal was adopted, two other new EU information technology systems had been proposed to be set up: discussions were ongoing on the EES Regulation 7 while the Commission’s proposal on the European Criminal Records Information System – Third Country Nationals (‘ECRIS-TCN’) 8 was just about to be proposed. As regards existing information systems, the legal texts of the SIS were evolving due to the proposed revisions to the SIS legal framework in December 2016, finally adopted by co-legislators in November 2018 9 . The recast of the Eurodac Regulation 10 had also been proposed by the Commission as part of the reform of the Common European Asylum System, but had not yet been adopted by co-legislators 11 . The recast Eurodac Regulation still remains to be adopted by co-legislators today. Based on these considerations, the ETIAS Regulation stipulates, in its Article 11(2) that: “The amendments to the legal acts establishing the EU information systems that are necessary for establishing their interoperability with ETIAS as well as the addition of corresponding provisions in this Regulation shall be the subject of a separate legal instrument”. The present proposal therefore aims to set out the technical amendments necessary to fully set up the ETIAS system by amending the legal acts of the EU information technology systems ETIAS queries. The present proposal also sets out coresponding provisions and amends the ETIAS Regulation accordingly. First, the present initiative sets out amendments to the Regulation on ECRIS-TCN, on which recently, an ‘agreement in principle’ was found by the co-legislators. Thus, in line with the intention expressed by co-legislators in the ETIAS Regulation 12 it is now possible to include in ETIAS the necessary provisions on the relationship between ETIAS and ECRIS-TCN and to amend ECRIS-TCN accordingly. Secondly, the present initiative also aims to establish the relations between ETIAS and the SIS. The revised SIS legal framework has been adopted in November 2018. The present proposal includes consequential amendments resulting from the adoption of the new SIS Regulations. In line with the new SIS legal framework it is proposed to include the new alert category on inquiry checks 13 for the assessment of applications. It is not proposed to include the alert category on return decisions as such alerts are erased at the moment a return decision is implemented. This means that persons that apply for an ETIAS authorisation after having left the EU will – by definition – not have a return record in the SIS. Thirdly, the present initiative seeks to amend the EES Regulation to establish technically its relationship with ETIAS. Fourthly, the initiative also aims at amending the VIS Regulation in order to allow VIS to receive, process and answer ETIAS queries. Although in May 2018, the Commission presented a proposal to amend the VIS Regulation in order to upgrade that database, the present initiative puts forward amendments to the VIS Regulation currently in force, as the negotiations on the proposal for the upgraded VIS are not sufficiently advanced. However, if the proposal to amend the VIS Regulation were to be adopted first, it could become necessary to introduce some technical changes in the present proposal to align it with the amended version of the VIS Regulation. If the present proposal is adopted first, some technical changes could be required in the proposal amending the VIS Regulation before its adoption. In addition, following the adoption of both the EES Regulation and ETIAS Regulation, it is now required to align the way EES and ETIAS are working together on the way EES and VIS are integrated for the purpose of border control process and registration of border crossings in EES. This will rationalise and simplify the work of border guards through the implementation of a more uniform border control process for all third-country national entering for a short stay. The present initiative however does not include the amendments related to Eurodac, the EU asylum and irregular migration database, given that discussions have not yet been concluded on the May 2016 legislative proposal to strengthen Eurodac 14 . Furthermore, the data available in the current Eurodac are not sufficient for ETIAS purposes, given that the existing Eurodac only stores biometric data and a reference number, but no other personal data (e.g. name(s), age, date of birth) that would allow for contributing to the objectives of ETIAS. The May 2016 legislative proposal for a recast Eurodac Regulation seeks to extend the purpose of the database to the identification of illegally staying third-country nationals and those who have entered the EU irregularly. In particular, it provides for the storage of personal data such as the name(s), age, date of birth, nationality, and identity documents. These identity data are essential to ensure that Eurodac will be able to contribute to the objectives of ETIAS. Once the co-legislators reach political agreement on the recast Eurodac Regulation, the recast Eurodac Regulation will need to be supplemented with the necessary amendments to connect Eurodac to ETIAS. Additionally, once the co-legislators adopt the Commission’s legislative proposals 15 for the interoperability of information systems for security, border and migration management, and following political agreement on the proposal for a recast Eurodac Regulation, the Commission will apply the same approach with regards to the necessary amendments to make Eurodac part of the interoperability of information systems . Finally, in line with the April 2016 Communication on "Smarter Information Systems for borders and security", ETIAS is to be built based on a re-use of hardware and software components developed for the EES 16 . This is also the approach followed by the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems 17 . The technical development of the common identity repository and the European search portal as foreseen by the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems would be developed on the basis of the EES/ETIAS components. This proposal therefore presents amendments to the ETIAS Regulation to specify that the ETIAS Central System would build upon the EES Central System’s hardware and software components in order to establish a shared identity repository for the storage of the identity alphanumeric data of both ETIAS applicants and third-country nationals registered in EES. This shared identity repository would be the basis for the implementation of the common identity repository once the co-legislators adopt the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems. Moreover, during a transitional period, before the European search portal is available, the automated processing of ETIAS applications would rely on a tool, which would be used as the basis for the development and implementation of the European search portal. Due to the variable geometry in Member States' participation in EU policies in the area of freedom, security and justice, it is necessary to adopt two separate legal instruments which will nonetheless work seamlessly together to enable the comprehensive operation and use of the system. 
Revised version (Article 54 Responsibilities of eu-LISA during the design and development phase):
1. eu-LISA shall ensure that the central infrastructures of the interoperability components are operated in accordance with this Regulation. 2. The interoperability components shall be hosted by eu-LISA in its technical sites and shall provide the functionalities laid down in this Regulation in accordance with the conditions of security, availability, quality and performance referred to in Article 55(1). 3. eu-LISA shall be responsible for the development of the interoperability components and for any adaptations required for establishing interoperability between the central systems of the EES, VIS, ETIAS, SIS, Eurodac, ECRIS-TCN, and the ESP, the shared BMS, the CIR, the MID and the CRRS. Without prejudice to Article 66, eu-LISA shall not have access to any of the personal data processed through the ESP, the shared BMS, the CIR or the MID. eu-LISA shall define the design of the physical architecture of the interoperability components including their communication infrastructures and the technical specifications and their evolution as regards the central infrastructure and the secure communication infrastructure, which shall be adopted by the Management Board, subject to a favourable opinion of the Commission. eu-LISA shall also implement any necessary adaptations to the EES, VIS, ETIAS or SIS deriving from the establishment of interoperability and provided for by this Regulation. The development shall consist of the elaboration and implementation of the technical specifications, testing and overall project management and coordination. 4. During the design and development phase, a Programme Management Board composed of a maximum of 10 members shall be established. It shall be composed of seven members appointed by eu-LISA's Management Board from among its members or its alternates, the chair of the Interoperability Advisory Group referred to in Article 75, a member representing eu-LISA appointed by its Executive Director, and one member appointed by the Commission. The members appointed by eu-LISA's Management Board shall be elected only from those Member States that are fully bound under Union law by the legal instruments governing the development, establishment, operation and use of all the EU information systems and which will participate in the interoperability components. 5. The Programme Management Board shall meet regularly and at least three times per quarter. It shall ensure the adequate management of the design and development phase of the interoperability components. Every month, the Programme Management Board shall submit written reports on progress of the project to eu-LISA's Management Board. The Programme Management Board shall have no decision-making power, nor any mandate to represent the members of eu-LISA's Management Board. The chairmanship shall be held by a Member State that is fully bound under Union law by the legal instruments governing the development, establishment, operation and use of all the EU information systems and which will participate in the interoperability components. All travel and subsistence expenses incurred by the members of the Programme Management Board shall be paid by eu-LISA, and Article 10 of the eu-LISA Rules of Procedure shall apply mutatis mutandis . eu-LISA shall provide the Programme Management Board with a secretariat. The Interoperability Advisory Group referred to in Article 75 shall meet regularly until the start of operations of the interoperability components. It shall report after each meeting to the Programme Management Board. It shall provide the technical expertise to support the tasks of the Programme Management Board and shall follow up on the state of preparation of the Member States.
Article 55 Responsibilities of eu-LISA following the entry into operations
1. Following the entry into operations of each interoperability component, eu-LISA shall be responsible for the technical management of the central infrastructure of the interoperability components, including their maintenance and technological developments. In cooperation with the Member States, it shall ensure that the best available technology is used, subject to a cost-benefit analysis. eu-LISA shall also be responsible for the technical management of the communication infrastructure referred to in Articles 6, 12, 17, 25 and 39. Technical management of the interoperability components shall consist of all the tasks and technical solutions necessary to keep the interoperability components functioning and providing uninterrupted services to the Member States and to the Union agencies 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in accordance with this Regulation. It shall include the maintenance work and technical developments necessary to ensure that the components function at a satisfactory level of technical quality, in particular as regards the response time for interrogation of the central infrastructures in accordance with the technical specifications. All interoperability components shall be developed and managed in such a way as to ensure fast, seamless, efficient and controlled access, full, uninterrupted availability of the components and of the data stored in the MID, the shared BMS and the CIR, and a response time in line with the operational needs of the Member States' authorities and Union agencies. 2. Without prejudice to Article 17 of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union, eu-LISA shall apply appropriate rules of professional secrecy or other equivalent duties of confidentiality to its staff required to work with data stored in the interoperability components. This obligation shall also apply after such staff leave office or employment or after the termination of their activities. Without prejudice to Article 66, eu-LISA shall not have access to any of the personal data processed through the ESP, the shared BMS, the CIR and the MID. 3. eu-LISA shall develop and maintain a mechanism and procedures for carrying out quality checks on the data stored in the shared BMS and the CIR in accordance with Article 37. 4. eu-LISA shall also perform tasks related to providing training on the technical use of the interoperability components.
Article 56 Responsibilities of Member States
1. Each Member State shall be responsible for: (a) the connection to the communication infrastructure of the ESP and the CIR; (b) the integration of the existing national systems and infrastructures with the ESP, the CIR and the MID; (c) the organisation, management, operation and maintenance of its existing national infrastructure and of its connection to the interoperability components; (d) the management of, and arrangements for, access by the duly authorised staff of the competent national authorities to the ESP, the CIR and the MID in accordance with this Regulation and the creation and regular update of a list of those staff and their profiles; the adoption of the legislative measures referred to in Article 20(5) and (6) in order to access the CIR for identification purposes; (f) the manual verification of different identities referred to in Article 29; (g) compliance with the data quality requirements established under Union law; (h) compliance with the rules of each EU information system regarding the security and integrity of personal data; (i) remedying any deficiencies identified in the Commission's evaluation report concerning data quality referred to in Article 37(5). 2. Each Member State shall connect their designated authorities to the CIR.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal In September 2018, the Council and the European Parliament adopted two legislative acts, a Regulation establishing the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (‘ETIAS’) 1 and an amendment of the Europol Regulation for the purpose of establishing ETIAS 2 . Establishing ETIAS is among efforts undertaken in recent years at EU level to enhance the security of citizens and prevent irregular migration in an open Europe, securing and continuing to strengthen the management of external borders 3 , 4 . The context and the establishment of the system were announced in the 2016 State of the Union speech. President Juncker said: ‘ We will defend our borders […] with strict controls […] on everyone crossing them. Every time someone enters or exits the EU, there will be a record of when, where and why. In November [2016] we will propose a European travel information and authorisation system – an automated system to determine who will be allowed to travel to Europe. That way we will know who is travelling to Europe before they even get here ” . ETIAS will fill the information gap on travellers exempt from the requirement of being in possession of a visa when crossing the external borders. ETIAS will determine the eligibility of visa-exempt third-country nationals prior to their travel to the Schengen Area and whether such travel poses a security, irregular migration or high epidemic risk. ETIAS will also give travellers confidence that they would be able to cross the borders smoothly. If needed, ETIAS travel authorisation could be denied by ETIAS National Units. The assessment of such risks will involve automated processing of personal data provided in the applications for travel authorisation. The ETIAS Regulation establishes that personal data in the applications will be compared with the data present in records, files or alerts registered in EU information systems or databases (the ETIAS Central System, Schengen Information System (‘SIS’), the Visa Information System (‘VIS’), the Entry/Exit System ‘(EES’) or Eurodac), in Europol data or in the Interpol databases (the Interpol Stolen and Lost Travel Document database (‘SLTD’) or the Interpol Travel Documents Associated with Notices database (‘TDAWN’)) 5 . While the Regulation defines in its Article 20 which group of data from the ETIAS application files can be used to consult the other systems, not all those data are collected or recorded in the same way in the other EU information systems and Europol data. For instance in one of the systems, ‘country of issue of the travel document’ is collected while in another the same data is recorded in another way, e.g. as ‘three letter code of the issuing country of the travel document’. In other instances, a category of data is collected in one system but not in the other. For instance, ‘first names of parents of applicants’ are collected by ETIAS, but not in most of the other systems to be queried by ETIAS. Also at the time the ETIAS proposal 6 was adopted, the situation as regards the different EU information systems to be queried by ETIAS was different from today. At the time the ETIAS proposal was adopted, two other new EU information technology systems had been proposed to be set up: discussions were ongoing on the EES Regulation 7 while the Commission’s proposal on the European Criminal Records Information System – Third Country Nationals (‘ECRIS-TCN’) 8 was just about to be proposed. As regards existing information systems, the legal texts of the SIS were evolving due to the proposed revisions to the SIS legal framework in December 2016, finally adopted by co-legislators in November 2018 9 . The recast of the Eurodac Regulation 10 had also been proposed by the Commission as part of the reform of the Common European Asylum System, but had not yet been adopted by co-legislators 11 . The recast Eurodac Regulation still remains to be adopted by co-legislators today. Based on these considerations, the ETIAS Regulation stipulates, in its Article 11(2) that: “The amendments to the legal acts establishing the EU information systems that are necessary for establishing their interoperability with ETIAS as well as the addition of corresponding provisions in this Regulation shall be the subject of a separate legal instrument”. The present proposal therefore aims to set out the technical amendments necessary to fully set up the ETIAS system by amending the legal acts of the EU information technology systems ETIAS queries. The present proposal also sets out coresponding provisions and amends the ETIAS Regulation accordingly. First, the present initiative sets out amendments to the Regulation on ECRIS-TCN, on which recently, an ‘agreement in principle’ was found by the co-legislators. Thus, in line with the intention expressed by co-legislators in the ETIAS Regulation 12 it is now possible to include in ETIAS the necessary provisions on the relationship between ETIAS and ECRIS-TCN and to amend ECRIS-TCN accordingly. Secondly, the present initiative also aims to establish the relations between ETIAS and the SIS. The revised SIS legal framework has been adopted in November 2018. The present proposal includes consequential amendments resulting from the adoption of the new SIS Regulations. In line with the new SIS legal framework it is proposed to include the new alert category on inquiry checks 13 for the assessment of applications. It is not proposed to include the alert category on return decisions as such alerts are erased at the moment a return decision is implemented. This means that persons that apply for an ETIAS authorisation after having left the EU will – by definition – not have a return record in the SIS. Thirdly, the present initiative seeks to amend the EES Regulation to establish technically its relationship with ETIAS. Fourthly, the initiative also aims at amending the VIS Regulation in order to allow VIS to receive, process and answer ETIAS queries. Although in May 2018, the Commission presented a proposal to amend the VIS Regulation in order to upgrade that database, the present initiative puts forward amendments to the VIS Regulation currently in force, as the negotiations on the proposal for the upgraded VIS are not sufficiently advanced. However, if the proposal to amend the VIS Regulation were to be adopted first, it could become necessary to introduce some technical changes in the present proposal to align it with the amended version of the VIS Regulation. If the present proposal is adopted first, some technical changes could be required in the proposal amending the VIS Regulation before its adoption. In addition, following the adoption of both the EES Regulation and ETIAS Regulation, it is now required to align the way EES and ETIAS are working together on the way EES and VIS are integrated for the purpose of border control process and registration of border crossings in EES. This will rationalise and simplify the work of border guards through the implementation of a more uniform border control process for all third-country national entering for a short stay. The present initiative however does not include the amendments related to Eurodac, the EU asylum and irregular migration database, given that discussions have not yet been concluded on the May 2016 legislative proposal to strengthen Eurodac 14 . Furthermore, the data available in the current Eurodac are not sufficient for ETIAS purposes, given that the existing Eurodac only stores biometric data and a reference number, but no other personal data (e.g. name(s), age, date of birth) that would allow for contributing to the objectives of ETIAS. The May 2016 legislative proposal for a recast Eurodac Regulation seeks to extend the purpose of the database to the identification of illegally staying third-country nationals and those who have entered the EU irregularly. In particular, it provides for the storage of personal data such as the name(s), age, date of birth, nationality, and identity documents. These identity data are essential to ensure that Eurodac will be able to contribute to the objectives of ETIAS. Once the co-legislators reach political agreement on the recast Eurodac Regulation, the recast Eurodac Regulation will need to be supplemented with the necessary amendments to connect Eurodac to ETIAS. Additionally, once the co-legislators adopt the Commission’s legislative proposals 15 for the interoperability of information systems for security, border and migration management, and following political agreement on the proposal for a recast Eurodac Regulation, the Commission will apply the same approach with regards to the necessary amendments to make Eurodac part of the interoperability of information systems . Finally, in line with the April 2016 Communication on "Smarter Information Systems for borders and security", ETIAS is to be built based on a re-use of hardware and software components developed for the EES 16 . This is also the approach followed by the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems 17 . The technical development of the common identity repository and the European search portal as foreseen by the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems would be developed on the basis of the EES/ETIAS components. This proposal therefore presents amendments to the ETIAS Regulation to specify that the ETIAS Central System would build upon the EES Central System’s hardware and software components in order to establish a shared identity repository for the storage of the identity alphanumeric data of both ETIAS applicants and third-country nationals registered in EES. This shared identity repository would be the basis for the implementation of the common identity repository once the co-legislators adopt the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems. Moreover, during a transitional period, before the European search portal is available, the automated processing of ETIAS applications would rely on a tool, which would be used as the basis for the development and implementation of the European search portal. Due to the variable geometry in Member States' participation in EU policies in the area of freedom, security and justice, it is necessary to adopt two separate legal instruments which will nonetheless work seamlessly together to enable the comprehensive operation and use of the system. 
Revised version (Article 56 Responsibilities of Member States):
2. Each Member State shall connect their designated authorities to the CIR.
Article 57 Responsibilities of the ETIAS Central Unit
The ETIAS Central Unit shall be responsible for: (a) the manual verification of different identities in accordance with Article 29; (b) carrying out multiple-identity detection between the data stored in the EES, VIS, Eurodac and SIS, as referred to in Article 69.
Article 58 Amendments to Regulation (EC) No 767/2008
Regulation (EC) No 767/2008 is amended as follows: in Article 1, the following paragraph is added: in Article 4, the following points are added: ‘(12) ‘VIS data’ means all data stored in the VIS Central System and in the CIR in accordance with Articles 9 to 14; ‘(12) (14) ‘fingerprint data’ means the data relating to the five fingerprints of the index, middle finger, ring finger, little finger and the thumb from the right hand and, where present, from the left hand;’; in Article 5, the following paragraph is inserted: in Article 6 paragraph 2 is replaced by the following: ‘2. Access to the VIS for the purposes of consulting the data shall be reserved exclusively for the duly authorised staff of the national authorities of each Member State which are competent for the purposes laid down in Articles 15 to 22, and for the duly authorised staff of the national authorities of each Member State and of the Union agencies which are competent for the purposes laid down in Articles 20 and 21 of Regulation (EU) 2019/817. Such access shall be limited according to the extent that the data are required for the performance of their tasks for those purposes, and proportionate to the objectives pursued.’; ‘(a) surname (family name); first name or names (given names); date of birth; sex; ‘(a) (aa) surname at birth (former surname(s)); place and country of birth; current nationality and nationality at birth; (b) the type and number of the travel document or documents and the three-letter code of the issuing country of the travel document or documents; (c) the date of expiry of the validity of the travel document or documents; (ca) the authority which issued the travel document and its date of issue;’.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal In September 2018, the Council and the European Parliament adopted two legislative acts, a Regulation establishing the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (‘ETIAS’) 1 and an amendment of the Europol Regulation for the purpose of establishing ETIAS 2 . Establishing ETIAS is among efforts undertaken in recent years at EU level to enhance the security of citizens and prevent irregular migration in an open Europe, securing and continuing to strengthen the management of external borders 3 , 4 . The context and the establishment of the system were announced in the 2016 State of the Union speech. President Juncker said: ‘ We will defend our borders […] with strict controls […] on everyone crossing them. Every time someone enters or exits the EU, there will be a record of when, where and why. In November [2016] we will propose a European travel information and authorisation system – an automated system to determine who will be allowed to travel to Europe. That way we will know who is travelling to Europe before they even get here ” . ETIAS will fill the information gap on travellers exempt from the requirement of being in possession of a visa when crossing the external borders. ETIAS will determine the eligibility of visa-exempt third-country nationals prior to their travel to the Schengen Area and whether such travel poses a security, irregular migration or high epidemic risk. ETIAS will also give travellers confidence that they would be able to cross the borders smoothly. If needed, ETIAS travel authorisation could be denied by ETIAS National Units. The assessment of such risks will involve automated processing of personal data provided in the applications for travel authorisation. The ETIAS Regulation establishes that personal data in the applications will be compared with the data present in records, files or alerts registered in EU information systems or databases (the ETIAS Central System, Schengen Information System (‘SIS’), the Visa Information System (‘VIS’), the Entry/Exit System ‘(EES’) or Eurodac), in Europol data or in the Interpol databases (the Interpol Stolen and Lost Travel Document database (‘SLTD’) or the Interpol Travel Documents Associated with Notices database (‘TDAWN’)) 5 . While the Regulation defines in its Article 20 which group of data from the ETIAS application files can be used to consult the other systems, not all those data are collected or recorded in the same way in the other EU information systems and Europol data. For instance in one of the systems, ‘country of issue of the travel document’ is collected while in another the same data is recorded in another way, e.g. as ‘three letter code of the issuing country of the travel document’. In other instances, a category of data is collected in one system but not in the other. For instance, ‘first names of parents of applicants’ are collected by ETIAS, but not in most of the other systems to be queried by ETIAS. Also at the time the ETIAS proposal 6 was adopted, the situation as regards the different EU information systems to be queried by ETIAS was different from today. At the time the ETIAS proposal was adopted, two other new EU information technology systems had been proposed to be set up: discussions were ongoing on the EES Regulation 7 while the Commission’s proposal on the European Criminal Records Information System – Third Country Nationals (‘ECRIS-TCN’) 8 was just about to be proposed. As regards existing information systems, the legal texts of the SIS were evolving due to the proposed revisions to the SIS legal framework in December 2016, finally adopted by co-legislators in November 2018 9 . The recast of the Eurodac Regulation 10 had also been proposed by the Commission as part of the reform of the Common European Asylum System, but had not yet been adopted by co-legislators 11 . The recast Eurodac Regulation still remains to be adopted by co-legislators today. Based on these considerations, the ETIAS Regulation stipulates, in its Article 11(2) that: “The amendments to the legal acts establishing the EU information systems that are necessary for establishing their interoperability with ETIAS as well as the addition of corresponding provisions in this Regulation shall be the subject of a separate legal instrument”. The present proposal therefore aims to set out the technical amendments necessary to fully set up the ETIAS system by amending the legal acts of the EU information technology systems ETIAS queries. The present proposal also sets out coresponding provisions and amends the ETIAS Regulation accordingly. First, the present initiative sets out amendments to the Regulation on ECRIS-TCN, on which recently, an ‘agreement in principle’ was found by the co-legislators. Thus, in line with the intention expressed by co-legislators in the ETIAS Regulation 12 it is now possible to include in ETIAS the necessary provisions on the relationship between ETIAS and ECRIS-TCN and to amend ECRIS-TCN accordingly. Secondly, the present initiative also aims to establish the relations between ETIAS and the SIS. The revised SIS legal framework has been adopted in November 2018. The present proposal includes consequential amendments resulting from the adoption of the new SIS Regulations. In line with the new SIS legal framework it is proposed to include the new alert category on inquiry checks 13 for the assessment of applications. It is not proposed to include the alert category on return decisions as such alerts are erased at the moment a return decision is implemented. This means that persons that apply for an ETIAS authorisation after having left the EU will – by definition – not have a return record in the SIS. Thirdly, the present initiative seeks to amend the EES Regulation to establish technically its relationship with ETIAS. Fourthly, the initiative also aims at amending the VIS Regulation in order to allow VIS to receive, process and answer ETIAS queries. Although in May 2018, the Commission presented a proposal to amend the VIS Regulation in order to upgrade that database, the present initiative puts forward amendments to the VIS Regulation currently in force, as the negotiations on the proposal for the upgraded VIS are not sufficiently advanced. However, if the proposal to amend the VIS Regulation were to be adopted first, it could become necessary to introduce some technical changes in the present proposal to align it with the amended version of the VIS Regulation. If the present proposal is adopted first, some technical changes could be required in the proposal amending the VIS Regulation before its adoption. In addition, following the adoption of both the EES Regulation and ETIAS Regulation, it is now required to align the way EES and ETIAS are working together on the way EES and VIS are integrated for the purpose of border control process and registration of border crossings in EES. This will rationalise and simplify the work of border guards through the implementation of a more uniform border control process for all third-country national entering for a short stay. The present initiative however does not include the amendments related to Eurodac, the EU asylum and irregular migration database, given that discussions have not yet been concluded on the May 2016 legislative proposal to strengthen Eurodac 14 . Furthermore, the data available in the current Eurodac are not sufficient for ETIAS purposes, given that the existing Eurodac only stores biometric data and a reference number, but no other personal data (e.g. name(s), age, date of birth) that would allow for contributing to the objectives of ETIAS. The May 2016 legislative proposal for a recast Eurodac Regulation seeks to extend the purpose of the database to the identification of illegally staying third-country nationals and those who have entered the EU irregularly. In particular, it provides for the storage of personal data such as the name(s), age, date of birth, nationality, and identity documents. These identity data are essential to ensure that Eurodac will be able to contribute to the objectives of ETIAS. Once the co-legislators reach political agreement on the recast Eurodac Regulation, the recast Eurodac Regulation will need to be supplemented with the necessary amendments to connect Eurodac to ETIAS. Additionally, once the co-legislators adopt the Commission’s legislative proposals 15 for the interoperability of information systems for security, border and migration management, and following political agreement on the proposal for a recast Eurodac Regulation, the Commission will apply the same approach with regards to the necessary amendments to make Eurodac part of the interoperability of information systems . Finally, in line with the April 2016 Communication on "Smarter Information Systems for borders and security", ETIAS is to be built based on a re-use of hardware and software components developed for the EES 16 . This is also the approach followed by the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems 17 . The technical development of the common identity repository and the European search portal as foreseen by the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems would be developed on the basis of the EES/ETIAS components. This proposal therefore presents amendments to the ETIAS Regulation to specify that the ETIAS Central System would build upon the EES Central System’s hardware and software components in order to establish a shared identity repository for the storage of the identity alphanumeric data of both ETIAS applicants and third-country nationals registered in EES. This shared identity repository would be the basis for the implementation of the common identity repository once the co-legislators adopt the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems. Moreover, during a transitional period, before the European search portal is available, the automated processing of ETIAS applications would rely on a tool, which would be used as the basis for the development and implementation of the European search portal. Due to the variable geometry in Member States' participation in EU policies in the area of freedom, security and justice, it is necessary to adopt two separate legal instruments which will nonetheless work seamlessly together to enable the comprehensive operation and use of the system.
Article 59 Amendments to Regulation (EU) 2016/399
In Article 8 the following paragraph is inserted: ‘4a. Where on entry or exit, consultation of the relevant databases including the multiple-identity detector through the European search portal established by Article 25(1) and Article 6(1) of Regulation (EU) 2019/817 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( *2 ) respectively results in a yellow link or detects a red link, the border guard shall consult the common identity repository established by Article 17(1) of that Regulation or SIS or both to assess the differences in the linked identity data or travel document data. The border guard shall carry out any additional verification necessary to take a decision on the status and colour of the link. In accordance with Article 69(1) of Regulation (EU) 2019/817, this paragraph shall apply as from the start of operations of the multiple-identity detector under Article 72(4) of that Regulation.
Article 60 Amendments to Regulation (EU) 2017/2226
Regulation (EU) 2017/2226 is amended as follows: in Article 1, the following paragraph is added: in Article 3, paragraph 1 is amended as follows: point (22) is replaced by the following: ‘(22) ‘EES data’ means all data stored in the EES Central System and in the CIR in accordance with Articles 15 to 20;’; point (22) is replaced by the following: ‘(22) ‘EES data’ means all data stored in the EES Central System and in the CIR in accordance with Articles 15 to 20;’; ‘(22) the following point is inserted: ‘(22a) the following points are added: ‘(32) ‘ESP’ means the European search portal established by Article 6(1) of Regulation (EU) 2019/817; ‘CIR’ means the common identity repository established by Article 17(1) of Regulation (EU) 2019/817.’; in Article 6(1), the following point is added: ‘(j) ensure the correct identification of persons.’; Article 7 is amended as follows: paragraph 1 is amended as follows: point (f) is replaced by the following: ‘(f) a secure communication infrastructure between the EES Central System and the central infrastructures of the ESP and the CIR.’; the following paragraph is inserted: in Article 9, the following paragraph is added: ‘4. Access to the EES data stored in the CIR shall be reserved exclusively for the duly authorised staff of the national authorities of each Member State and for the duly authorised staff of the Union agencies that are competent for the purposes laid down in Article 20 and Article 21 of Regulation (EU) 2019/817. Such access shall be limited according to the extent that the data are required for the performance of their tasks for those purposes, and proportionate to the objectives pursued.’; Article 21 is amended as follows: paragraph 1 is replaced by the following: ‘1. Where it is technically impossible to enter data in the EES Central System or the CIR or in the event of a failure of the EES Central System or the CIR, the data referred to in Articles 16 to 20 shall be temporarily stored in the NUI. Where that is not possible, the data shall be temporarily stored locally in an electronic format. In both cases, the data shall be entered in the EES Central System or the CIR as soon as the technical impossibility or failure has been remedied. The Member States shall take the appropriate measures and deploy the required infrastructure, equipment and resources to ensure that such temporary local storage may be carried out at any time and for any of their border crossing points.’; in paragraph 2, the first subparagraph is replaced by the following: ‘2. Without prejudice to the obligation to carry out border checks under Regulation (EU) 2016/399, the border authority, in the exceptional situation where it is technically impossible to enter data in either the EES Central System and the CIR or in the NUI and it is technically impossible to temporarily store the data locally in an electronic format, shall manually store the data referred to in Articles 16 to 20 of this Regulation, with the exception of biometric data, and shall affix an entry or exit stamp in the travel document of the third-country national. That data shall be entered in the EES Central System and the CIR as soon as technically possible.’; Article 23 is amended as follows: (a) the following paragraph is inserted: ‘2a. For the purpose of the verifications in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article, the border authority shall launch a query by using the ESP to compare the data on the third-country national with the relevant data in the EES and the VIS.’; (b) in paragraph 4, the first subparagraph is replaced by the following: ‘4. Where the search with the alphanumeric data set out in paragraph 2 of this Article indicates that data on the third-country national are not recorded in the EES, where a verification of the third-country national pursuant to paragraph 2 of this Article fails or where there are doubts as to the identity of the third-country national, the border authorities shall have access to data for identification in accordance with Article 27 in order to create or update an individual file in accordance with Article 14.’; Article 23 is amended as follows: ‘2a. For the purpose of the verifications in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article, the border authority shall launch a query by using the ESP to compare the data on the third-country national with the relevant data in the EES and the VIS.’; in paragraph 4, the first subparagraph is replaced by the following: ‘4. Where the search with the alphanumeric data set out in paragraph 2 of this Article indicates that data on the third-country national are not recorded in the EES, where a verification of the third-country national pursuant to paragraph 2 of this Article fails or where there are doubts as to the identity of the third-country national, the border authorities shall have access to data for identification in accordance with Article 27 in order to create or update an individual file in accordance with Article 14.’; in Article 32 the following paragraph is inserted: in Article 33 the following paragraph is inserted: Article 34 is amended as follows: (a) in paragraphs 1 and 2, the words ‘in the EES Central System’ are replaced by the words ‘in the CIR and in the EES Central System’; (b) in paragraph 5, the words ‘from the EES Central System’ are replaced by the words ‘from the EES Central System and from the CIR’; Article 34 is amended as follows: (a) in paragraphs 1 and 2, the words ‘in the EES Central System’ are replaced by the words ‘in the CIR and in the EES Central System’; (b) in paragraph 5, the words ‘from the EES Central System’ are replaced by the words ‘from the EES Central System and from the CIR’; in Article 35, paragraph 7 is replaced by the following: ‘7. The EES Central System and the CIR shall immediately inform all Member States of the erasure of EES or CIR data and where applicable remove them from the list of identified persons referred to in Article 12(3).’; (12) in Article 36, the words ‘of the EES Central System’ shall be replaced by the words ‘of the EES Central System and the CIR’; Article 37 is amended as follows: the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 is replaced by the following: the first subparagraph of paragraph 3 is replaced by the following: ‘3. eu-LISA shall be responsible for the operational management of the EES Central System and the CIR, the NUIs and the Secure Communication Channel between the EES Central System and the VIS Central System. It shall ensure, in cooperation with the Member States, that at all times the best available technology, subject to a cost-benefit analysis, is used for the EES Central System and the CIR, the NUIs, the Communication Infrastructure, the Secure Communication Channel between the EES Central System and the VIS Central System, the web service referred to in Article 13 and the data repository referred to in Article 63(2). eu-LISA shall also be responsible for the operational management of the Communication Infrastructure between the EES Central System and the NUIs, for the web service referred to in Article 13 and the data repository referred to in Article 63(2).’; in Article 46(1) the following point is added: Article 63 is amended as follows: paragraph 2 is replaced by the following: ‘2. For the purpose of paragraph 1 of this Article, eu-LISA shall store the data referred to in that paragraph in the central repository for reporting and statistics referred to in Article 39 of the Regulation (EU) 2019/817.’; in paragraph 4 the following subparagraph is added: ‘The daily statistics shall be stored in the central repository for reporting and statistics.’.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal In September 2018, the Council and the European Parliament adopted two legislative acts, a Regulation establishing the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (‘ETIAS’) 1 and an amendment of the Europol Regulation for the purpose of establishing ETIAS 2 . Establishing ETIAS is among efforts undertaken in recent years at EU level to enhance the security of citizens and prevent irregular migration in an open Europe, securing and continuing to strengthen the management of external borders 3 , 4 . The context and the establishment of the system were announced in the 2016 State of the Union speech. President Juncker said: ‘ We will defend our borders […] with strict controls […] on everyone crossing them. Every time someone enters or exits the EU, there will be a record of when, where and why. In November [2016] we will propose a European travel information and authorisation system – an automated system to determine who will be allowed to travel to Europe. That way we will know who is travelling to Europe before they even get here ” . ETIAS will fill the information gap on travellers exempt from the requirement of being in possession of a visa when crossing the external borders. ETIAS will determine the eligibility of visa-exempt third-country nationals prior to their travel to the Schengen Area and whether such travel poses a security, irregular migration or high epidemic risk. ETIAS will also give travellers confidence that they would be able to cross the borders smoothly. If needed, ETIAS travel authorisation could be denied by ETIAS National Units. The assessment of such risks will involve automated processing of personal data provided in the applications for travel authorisation. The ETIAS Regulation establishes that personal data in the applications will be compared with the data present in records, files or alerts registered in EU information systems or databases (the ETIAS Central System, Schengen Information System (‘SIS’), the Visa Information System (‘VIS’), the Entry/Exit System ‘(EES’) or Eurodac), in Europol data or in the Interpol databases (the Interpol Stolen and Lost Travel Document database (‘SLTD’) or the Interpol Travel Documents Associated with Notices database (‘TDAWN’)) 5 . While the Regulation defines in its Article 20 which group of data from the ETIAS application files can be used to consult the other systems, not all those data are collected or recorded in the same way in the other EU information systems and Europol data. For instance in one of the systems, ‘country of issue of the travel document’ is collected while in another the same data is recorded in another way, e.g. as ‘three letter code of the issuing country of the travel document’. In other instances, a category of data is collected in one system but not in the other. For instance, ‘first names of parents of applicants’ are collected by ETIAS, but not in most of the other systems to be queried by ETIAS. Also at the time the ETIAS proposal 6 was adopted, the situation as regards the different EU information systems to be queried by ETIAS was different from today. At the time the ETIAS proposal was adopted, two other new EU information technology systems had been proposed to be set up: discussions were ongoing on the EES Regulation 7 while the Commission’s proposal on the European Criminal Records Information System – Third Country Nationals (‘ECRIS-TCN’) 8 was just about to be proposed. As regards existing information systems, the legal texts of the SIS were evolving due to the proposed revisions to the SIS legal framework in December 2016, finally adopted by co-legislators in November 2018 9 . The recast of the Eurodac Regulation 10 had also been proposed by the Commission as part of the reform of the Common European Asylum System, but had not yet been adopted by co-legislators 11 . The recast Eurodac Regulation still remains to be adopted by co-legislators today. Based on these considerations, the ETIAS Regulation stipulates, in its Article 11(2) that: “The amendments to the legal acts establishing the EU information systems that are necessary for establishing their interoperability with ETIAS as well as the addition of corresponding provisions in this Regulation shall be the subject of a separate legal instrument”. The present proposal therefore aims to set out the technical amendments necessary to fully set up the ETIAS system by amending the legal acts of the EU information technology systems ETIAS queries. The present proposal also sets out coresponding provisions and amends the ETIAS Regulation accordingly. First, the present initiative sets out amendments to the Regulation on ECRIS-TCN, on which recently, an ‘agreement in principle’ was found by the co-legislators. Thus, in line with the intention expressed by co-legislators in the ETIAS Regulation 12 it is now possible to include in ETIAS the necessary provisions on the relationship between ETIAS and ECRIS-TCN and to amend ECRIS-TCN accordingly. Secondly, the present initiative also aims to establish the relations between ETIAS and the SIS. The revised SIS legal framework has been adopted in November 2018. The present proposal includes consequential amendments resulting from the adoption of the new SIS Regulations. In line with the new SIS legal framework it is proposed to include the new alert category on inquiry checks 13 for the assessment of applications. It is not proposed to include the alert category on return decisions as such alerts are erased at the moment a return decision is implemented. This means that persons that apply for an ETIAS authorisation after having left the EU will – by definition – not have a return record in the SIS. Thirdly, the present initiative seeks to amend the EES Regulation to establish technically its relationship with ETIAS. Fourthly, the initiative also aims at amending the VIS Regulation in order to allow VIS to receive, process and answer ETIAS queries. Although in May 2018, the Commission presented a proposal to amend the VIS Regulation in order to upgrade that database, the present initiative puts forward amendments to the VIS Regulation currently in force, as the negotiations on the proposal for the upgraded VIS are not sufficiently advanced. However, if the proposal to amend the VIS Regulation were to be adopted first, it could become necessary to introduce some technical changes in the present proposal to align it with the amended version of the VIS Regulation. If the present proposal is adopted first, some technical changes could be required in the proposal amending the VIS Regulation before its adoption. In addition, following the adoption of both the EES Regulation and ETIAS Regulation, it is now required to align the way EES and ETIAS are working together on the way EES and VIS are integrated for the purpose of border control process and registration of border crossings in EES. This will rationalise and simplify the work of border guards through the implementation of a more uniform border control process for all third-country national entering for a short stay. The present initiative however does not include the amendments related to Eurodac, the EU asylum and irregular migration database, given that discussions have not yet been concluded on the May 2016 legislative proposal to strengthen Eurodac 14 . Furthermore, the data available in the current Eurodac are not sufficient for ETIAS purposes, given that the existing Eurodac only stores biometric data and a reference number, but no other personal data (e.g. name(s), age, date of birth) that would allow for contributing to the objectives of ETIAS. The May 2016 legislative proposal for a recast Eurodac Regulation seeks to extend the purpose of the database to the identification of illegally staying third-country nationals and those who have entered the EU irregularly. In particular, it provides for the storage of personal data such as the name(s), age, date of birth, nationality, and identity documents. These identity data are essential to ensure that Eurodac will be able to contribute to the objectives of ETIAS. Once the co-legislators reach political agreement on the recast Eurodac Regulation, the recast Eurodac Regulation will need to be supplemented with the necessary amendments to connect Eurodac to ETIAS. Additionally, once the co-legislators adopt the Commission’s legislative proposals 15 for the interoperability of information systems for security, border and migration management, and following political agreement on the proposal for a recast Eurodac Regulation, the Commission will apply the same approach with regards to the necessary amendments to make Eurodac part of the interoperability of information systems . Finally, in line with the April 2016 Communication on "Smarter Information Systems for borders and security", ETIAS is to be built based on a re-use of hardware and software components developed for the EES 16 . This is also the approach followed by the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems 17 . The technical development of the common identity repository and the European search portal as foreseen by the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems would be developed on the basis of the EES/ETIAS components. This proposal therefore presents amendments to the ETIAS Regulation to specify that the ETIAS Central System would build upon the EES Central System’s hardware and software components in order to establish a shared identity repository for the storage of the identity alphanumeric data of both ETIAS applicants and third-country nationals registered in EES. This shared identity repository would be the basis for the implementation of the common identity repository once the co-legislators adopt the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems. Moreover, during a transitional period, before the European search portal is available, the automated processing of ETIAS applications would rely on a tool, which would be used as the basis for the development and implementation of the European search portal. Due to the variable geometry in Member States' participation in EU policies in the area of freedom, security and justice, it is necessary to adopt two separate legal instruments which will nonetheless work seamlessly together to enable the comprehensive operation and use of the system. 
Revised version (Article 60 Amendments to Regulation (EU) 2017/2226):
Regulation (EU) 2017/2226 is amended as follows: (12) in Article 36, the words ‘of the EES Central System’ shall be replaced by the words ‘of the EES Central System and the CIR’;
Article 61 Amendments to Regulation (EU) 2018/1240
Regulation (EU) 2018/1240 is amended as follows: in Article 1, the following paragraph is added: in Article 3(1), the following points are added: ‘(23) ‘CIR’ means the common identity repository established by Article 17(1) of Regulation (EU) 2019/817; ‘ESP’ means the European search portal established by Article 6(1) of Regulation (EU) 2019/817; ‘ETIAS Central System’ means the Central System referred to in point (a) of Article 6(2) together with the CIR to the extent that the CIR contains the data referred to in Article 6(2a); in Article 4, the following point is added: ‘(g) contribute to the correct identification of persons.’; Article 6 is amended as follows: paragraph 2 is amended as follows: point (a) is replaced by the following: ‘(a) a Central System, including the ETIAS watchlist referred to in Article 34;’; the following point is inserted: ‘(aa) the CIR;’; the following point is inserted: ‘(aa) the CIR;’; point (d) is replaced by the following: ‘(d) a secure communication infrastructure between the Central System and the central infrastructures of the ESP and the CIR;’; the following paragraph is inserted: ‘2a. The CIR shall contain the identity data and travel document data. The remaining data shall be stored in the Central System.’; Article 13 is amended as follows: ‘4a. Access to the ETIAS identity data and travel document data stored in the CIR shall also be reserved exclusively for the duly authorised staff of the national authorities of each Member State and for the duly authorised staff of the Union agencies that are competent for the purposes laid down in Article 20 and Article 21 of Regulation (EU) 2019/817. Such access shall be limited according to the extent that the data are required for the performance of their tasks for those purposes, and proportionate to the objectives pursued.’; paragraph 5 is replaced by the following: ‘5. Each Member State shall designate the competent national authorities referred to in paragraphs 1, 2, 4 and 4a of this Article and shall communicate a list of these authorities to eu-LISA without delay, in accordance with Article 87(2). That list shall specify for which purpose the duly authorised staff of each authority shall have access to the data in ETIAS Information System in accordance with paragraphs 1, 2, 4 and 4a of this Article.’; in Article 17, paragraph 2 is amended as follows: ‘(aa) country of birth, first name(s) of the parents of the applicant;’; Article 20 is amended as follows: in paragraph 2, the first subparagraph is replaced by the following: in Article 23, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following: (a) an alert on missing persons; (b) an alert on persons sought to assist with a judicial procedure; (c) an alert on persons for discreet checks or specific checks.’; in Article 52, the following paragraph is inserted: in Article 53, the following paragraph is inserted: in Article 69(1), the following point is inserted: in Article 73(2), the words ‘the central repository of data’ are replaced by the words ‘the central repository for reporting and statistics referred to in Article 39 of Regulation (EU) 2019/817, insofar as it contains data obtained from the ETIAS Central System under Article 84 of this Regulation’; in Article 74(1), the first subparagraph is replaced by the following: ‘1. Following the entry into operations of ETIAS, eu-LISA shall be responsible for the technical management of the ETIAS Central System and the NUIs. It shall also be responsible for any technical testing required for the establishment and update of the ETIAS screening rules. It shall ensure, in cooperation with the Member States that, at all times, the best available technology is used, subject to a cost-benefit analysis. eu-LISA shall also be responsible for the technical management of the communication infrastructure between the ETIAS Central System and the NUIs as well as for the public website, the app for mobile devices, the email service, the secure account service, the verification tool for applicants, the consent tool for applicants, the assessment tool for the ETIAS watchlist, the carrier gateway, the web service and the software to process the applications.’; in Article 84(2), the first subparagraph is replaced by the following: ‘2. For the purpose of paragraph 1 of this Article, eu-LISA shall store the data referred to in that paragraph in the central repository for reporting and statistics referred to in Article 39 of Regulation (EU) 2019/817. In accordance with Article 39(1) of that Regulation, cross-system statistical data and analytical reporting shall allow the authorities listed in paragraph 1 of this Article to obtain customisable reports and statistics, to support the implementation of the ETIAS screening rules referred to in Article 33, to improve the assessment of the security, illegal immigration and high epidemic risks, to enhance the efficiency of border checks and to help the ETIAS Central Unit and the ETIAS National Units process travel authorisation applications.’; in Article 84(4), the following subparagraph is added: ‘The daily statistics shall be stored in the central repository for reporting and statistics referred to in Article 39 of Regulation (EU) 2019/817.’.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal In September 2018, the Council and the European Parliament adopted two legislative acts, a Regulation establishing the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (‘ETIAS’) 1 and an amendment of the Europol Regulation for the purpose of establishing ETIAS 2 . Establishing ETIAS is among efforts undertaken in recent years at EU level to enhance the security of citizens and prevent irregular migration in an open Europe, securing and continuing to strengthen the management of external borders 3 , 4 . The context and the establishment of the system were announced in the 2016 State of the Union speech. President Juncker said: ‘ We will defend our borders […] with strict controls […] on everyone crossing them. Every time someone enters or exits the EU, there will be a record of when, where and why. In November [2016] we will propose a European travel information and authorisation system – an automated system to determine who will be allowed to travel to Europe. That way we will know who is travelling to Europe before they even get here ” . ETIAS will fill the information gap on travellers exempt from the requirement of being in possession of a visa when crossing the external borders. ETIAS will determine the eligibility of visa-exempt third-country nationals prior to their travel to the Schengen Area and whether such travel poses a security, irregular migration or high epidemic risk. ETIAS will also give travellers confidence that they would be able to cross the borders smoothly. If needed, ETIAS travel authorisation could be denied by ETIAS National Units. The assessment of such risks will involve automated processing of personal data provided in the applications for travel authorisation. The ETIAS Regulation establishes that personal data in the applications will be compared with the data present in records, files or alerts registered in EU information systems or databases (the ETIAS Central System, Schengen Information System (‘SIS’), the Visa Information System (‘VIS’), the Entry/Exit System ‘(EES’) or Eurodac), in Europol data or in the Interpol databases (the Interpol Stolen and Lost Travel Document database (‘SLTD’) or the Interpol Travel Documents Associated with Notices database (‘TDAWN’)) 5 . While the Regulation defines in its Article 20 which group of data from the ETIAS application files can be used to consult the other systems, not all those data are collected or recorded in the same way in the other EU information systems and Europol data. For instance in one of the systems, ‘country of issue of the travel document’ is collected while in another the same data is recorded in another way, e.g. as ‘three letter code of the issuing country of the travel document’. In other instances, a category of data is collected in one system but not in the other. For instance, ‘first names of parents of applicants’ are collected by ETIAS, but not in most of the other systems to be queried by ETIAS. Also at the time the ETIAS proposal 6 was adopted, the situation as regards the different EU information systems to be queried by ETIAS was different from today. At the time the ETIAS proposal was adopted, two other new EU information technology systems had been proposed to be set up: discussions were ongoing on the EES Regulation 7 while the Commission’s proposal on the European Criminal Records Information System – Third Country Nationals (‘ECRIS-TCN’) 8 was just about to be proposed. As regards existing information systems, the legal texts of the SIS were evolving due to the proposed revisions to the SIS legal framework in December 2016, finally adopted by co-legislators in November 2018 9 . The recast of the Eurodac Regulation 10 had also been proposed by the Commission as part of the reform of the Common European Asylum System, but had not yet been adopted by co-legislators 11 . The recast Eurodac Regulation still remains to be adopted by co-legislators today. Based on these considerations, the ETIAS Regulation stipulates, in its Article 11(2) that: “The amendments to the legal acts establishing the EU information systems that are necessary for establishing their interoperability with ETIAS as well as the addition of corresponding provisions in this Regulation shall be the subject of a separate legal instrument”. The present proposal therefore aims to set out the technical amendments necessary to fully set up the ETIAS system by amending the legal acts of the EU information technology systems ETIAS queries. The present proposal also sets out coresponding provisions and amends the ETIAS Regulation accordingly. First, the present initiative sets out amendments to the Regulation on ECRIS-TCN, on which recently, an ‘agreement in principle’ was found by the co-legislators. Thus, in line with the intention expressed by co-legislators in the ETIAS Regulation 12 it is now possible to include in ETIAS the necessary provisions on the relationship between ETIAS and ECRIS-TCN and to amend ECRIS-TCN accordingly. Secondly, the present initiative also aims to establish the relations between ETIAS and the SIS. The revised SIS legal framework has been adopted in November 2018. The present proposal includes consequential amendments resulting from the adoption of the new SIS Regulations. In line with the new SIS legal framework it is proposed to include the new alert category on inquiry checks 13 for the assessment of applications. It is not proposed to include the alert category on return decisions as such alerts are erased at the moment a return decision is implemented. This means that persons that apply for an ETIAS authorisation after having left the EU will – by definition – not have a return record in the SIS. Thirdly, the present initiative seeks to amend the EES Regulation to establish technically its relationship with ETIAS. Fourthly, the initiative also aims at amending the VIS Regulation in order to allow VIS to receive, process and answer ETIAS queries. Although in May 2018, the Commission presented a proposal to amend the VIS Regulation in order to upgrade that database, the present initiative puts forward amendments to the VIS Regulation currently in force, as the negotiations on the proposal for the upgraded VIS are not sufficiently advanced. However, if the proposal to amend the VIS Regulation were to be adopted first, it could become necessary to introduce some technical changes in the present proposal to align it with the amended version of the VIS Regulation. If the present proposal is adopted first, some technical changes could be required in the proposal amending the VIS Regulation before its adoption. In addition, following the adoption of both the EES Regulation and ETIAS Regulation, it is now required to align the way EES and ETIAS are working together on the way EES and VIS are integrated for the purpose of border control process and registration of border crossings in EES. This will rationalise and simplify the work of border guards through the implementation of a more uniform border control process for all third-country national entering for a short stay. The present initiative however does not include the amendments related to Eurodac, the EU asylum and irregular migration database, given that discussions have not yet been concluded on the May 2016 legislative proposal to strengthen Eurodac 14 . Furthermore, the data available in the current Eurodac are not sufficient for ETIAS purposes, given that the existing Eurodac only stores biometric data and a reference number, but no other personal data (e.g. name(s), age, date of birth) that would allow for contributing to the objectives of ETIAS. The May 2016 legislative proposal for a recast Eurodac Regulation seeks to extend the purpose of the database to the identification of illegally staying third-country nationals and those who have entered the EU irregularly. In particular, it provides for the storage of personal data such as the name(s), age, date of birth, nationality, and identity documents. These identity data are essential to ensure that Eurodac will be able to contribute to the objectives of ETIAS. Once the co-legislators reach political agreement on the recast Eurodac Regulation, the recast Eurodac Regulation will need to be supplemented with the necessary amendments to connect Eurodac to ETIAS. Additionally, once the co-legislators adopt the Commission’s legislative proposals 15 for the interoperability of information systems for security, border and migration management, and following political agreement on the proposal for a recast Eurodac Regulation, the Commission will apply the same approach with regards to the necessary amendments to make Eurodac part of the interoperability of information systems . Finally, in line with the April 2016 Communication on "Smarter Information Systems for borders and security", ETIAS is to be built based on a re-use of hardware and software components developed for the EES 16 . This is also the approach followed by the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems 17 . The technical development of the common identity repository and the European search portal as foreseen by the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems would be developed on the basis of the EES/ETIAS components. This proposal therefore presents amendments to the ETIAS Regulation to specify that the ETIAS Central System would build upon the EES Central System’s hardware and software components in order to establish a shared identity repository for the storage of the identity alphanumeric data of both ETIAS applicants and third-country nationals registered in EES. This shared identity repository would be the basis for the implementation of the common identity repository once the co-legislators adopt the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems. Moreover, during a transitional period, before the European search portal is available, the automated processing of ETIAS applications would rely on a tool, which would be used as the basis for the development and implementation of the European search portal. Due to the variable geometry in Member States' participation in EU policies in the area of freedom, security and justice, it is necessary to adopt two separate legal instruments which will nonetheless work seamlessly together to enable the comprehensive operation and use of the system.
Article 62 Amendments to Regulation (EU) 2018/1726
Regulation (EU) 2018/1726 is amended as follows: Article 12 is replaced by the following: 
‘Article 12
Data quality
1. Without prejudice to Member States' responsibilities with regard to the data entered into the systems under the Agency's operational responsibility, the Agency, closely involving its Advisory Groups, shall establish for all systems under the Agency's operational responsibility automated data quality control mechanisms and procedures, common data quality indicators and the minimum quality standards to store data, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the legal instruments governing those information systems and of Article 37 of Regulations (EU) 2019/817 ( *5 ) and (EU) 2019/818 ( *6 ) of the European Parliament and of the Council.
2. The Agency shall establish a central repository containing only anonymised data for reporting and statistics in accordance with Article 39 of Regulations (EU) 2019/817 and (EU) 2019/818, subject to specific provisions in the legal instruments governing the development, establishment, operation and use of large-scale IT systems managed by the Agency. in Article 19, paragraph 1 is amended as follows: the following point is inserted: point (ff) is replaced by the following: point (hh) is replaced by the following: point (mm) is replaced by the following: in Article 22, paragraph 4 is replaced by the following: ‘4. Europol and Eurojust may attend the meetings of the Management Board as observers when a question concerning SIS II, in relation to the application of Decision 2007/533/JHA is on the agenda. The European Border and Coast Guard Agency may attend the meetings of the Management Board as an observer when a question concerning SIS in relation to the application of Regulation (EU) 2016/1624 is on the agenda. Europol may attend the meetings of the Management Board as an observer when a question concerning VIS, in relation to the application of Decision 2008/633/JHA or a question concerning Eurodac, in relation to the application of Regulation (EU) No 603/2013 is on the agenda. Europol may attend the meetings of the Management Board as an observer when a question concerning EES in relation to the application of Regulation (EU) 2017/2226 is on the agenda or when a question concerning ETIAS in relation to Regulation (EU) 2018/1240 is on the agenda. The European Border and Coast Guard Agency may attend the meetings of the Management Board as an observer when a question concerning ETIAS in relation with the application of Regulation (EU) 2018/1240 is on the agenda. Eurojust, Europol and the European Public Prosecutor's Office may attend the meetings of the Management Board as observers when a question concerning Regulation (EU) 2019/816 is on the agenda. Europol, Eurojust and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency may attend the meetings of the Management Board as observers when a question concerning Regulations (EU) 2019/817 and (EU) 2019/818 is on the agenda. The Management Board may invite any other person whose opinion may be of interest to attend its meetings as an observer.’; in Article 24(3), point (p) is replaced by the following: Article 27 is amended as follows: in paragraph 1, the following point is inserted: ‘(db) Interoperability Advisory Group;’; (b) paragraph 3 is replaced by the following: ‘3. Europol, Eurojust and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency may each appoint a representative to the SIS II Advisory Group. Europol may also appoint a representative to the VIS and Eurodac and EES-ETIAS Advisory Groups. The European Border and Coast Guard Agency may also appoint a representative to the EES-ETIAS Advisory Group. Eurojust, Europol, and the European Public Prosecutors Office may each appoint a representative to the ECRIS-TCN Advisory Group. Europol, Eurojust and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency may each appoint a representative to the Interoperability Advisory Group.’. paragraph 3 is replaced by the following: ‘3. Europol, Eurojust and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency may each appoint a representative to the SIS II Advisory Group. Europol may also appoint a representative to the VIS and Eurodac and EES-ETIAS Advisory Groups. The European Border and Coast Guard Agency may also appoint a representative to the EES-ETIAS Advisory Group. Eurojust, Europol, and the European Public Prosecutors Office may each appoint a representative to the ECRIS-TCN Advisory Group. Europol, Eurojust and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency may each appoint a representative to the Interoperability Advisory Group.’.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal In September 2018, the Council and the European Parliament adopted two legislative acts, a Regulation establishing the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (‘ETIAS’) 1 and an amendment of the Europol Regulation for the purpose of establishing ETIAS 2 . Establishing ETIAS is among efforts undertaken in recent years at EU level to enhance the security of citizens and prevent irregular migration in an open Europe, securing and continuing to strengthen the management of external borders 3 , 4 . The context and the establishment of the system were announced in the 2016 State of the Union speech. President Juncker said: ‘ We will defend our borders […] with strict controls […] on everyone crossing them. Every time someone enters or exits the EU, there will be a record of when, where and why. In November [2016] we will propose a European travel information and authorisation system – an automated system to determine who will be allowed to travel to Europe. That way we will know who is travelling to Europe before they even get here ” . ETIAS will fill the information gap on travellers exempt from the requirement of being in possession of a visa when crossing the external borders. ETIAS will determine the eligibility of visa-exempt third-country nationals prior to their travel to the Schengen Area and whether such travel poses a security, irregular migration or high epidemic risk. ETIAS will also give travellers confidence that they would be able to cross the borders smoothly. If needed, ETIAS travel authorisation could be denied by ETIAS National Units. The assessment of such risks will involve automated processing of personal data provided in the applications for travel authorisation. The ETIAS Regulation establishes that personal data in the applications will be compared with the data present in records, files or alerts registered in EU information systems or databases (the ETIAS Central System, Schengen Information System (‘SIS’), the Visa Information System (‘VIS’), the Entry/Exit System ‘(EES’) or Eurodac), in Europol data or in the Interpol databases (the Interpol Stolen and Lost Travel Document database (‘SLTD’) or the Interpol Travel Documents Associated with Notices database (‘TDAWN’)) 5 . While the Regulation defines in its Article 20 which group of data from the ETIAS application files can be used to consult the other systems, not all those data are collected or recorded in the same way in the other EU information systems and Europol data. For instance in one of the systems, ‘country of issue of the travel document’ is collected while in another the same data is recorded in another way, e.g. as ‘three letter code of the issuing country of the travel document’. In other instances, a category of data is collected in one system but not in the other. For instance, ‘first names of parents of applicants’ are collected by ETIAS, but not in most of the other systems to be queried by ETIAS. Also at the time the ETIAS proposal 6 was adopted, the situation as regards the different EU information systems to be queried by ETIAS was different from today. At the time the ETIAS proposal was adopted, two other new EU information technology systems had been proposed to be set up: discussions were ongoing on the EES Regulation 7 while the Commission’s proposal on the European Criminal Records Information System – Third Country Nationals (‘ECRIS-TCN’) 8 was just about to be proposed. As regards existing information systems, the legal texts of the SIS were evolving due to the proposed revisions to the SIS legal framework in December 2016, finally adopted by co-legislators in November 2018 9 . The recast of the Eurodac Regulation 10 had also been proposed by the Commission as part of the reform of the Common European Asylum System, but had not yet been adopted by co-legislators 11 . The recast Eurodac Regulation still remains to be adopted by co-legislators today. Based on these considerations, the ETIAS Regulation stipulates, in its Article 11(2) that: “The amendments to the legal acts establishing the EU information systems that are necessary for establishing their interoperability with ETIAS as well as the addition of corresponding provisions in this Regulation shall be the subject of a separate legal instrument”. The present proposal therefore aims to set out the technical amendments necessary to fully set up the ETIAS system by amending the legal acts of the EU information technology systems ETIAS queries. The present proposal also sets out coresponding provisions and amends the ETIAS Regulation accordingly. First, the present initiative sets out amendments to the Regulation on ECRIS-TCN, on which recently, an ‘agreement in principle’ was found by the co-legislators. Thus, in line with the intention expressed by co-legislators in the ETIAS Regulation 12 it is now possible to include in ETIAS the necessary provisions on the relationship between ETIAS and ECRIS-TCN and to amend ECRIS-TCN accordingly. Secondly, the present initiative also aims to establish the relations between ETIAS and the SIS. The revised SIS legal framework has been adopted in November 2018. The present proposal includes consequential amendments resulting from the adoption of the new SIS Regulations. In line with the new SIS legal framework it is proposed to include the new alert category on inquiry checks 13 for the assessment of applications. It is not proposed to include the alert category on return decisions as such alerts are erased at the moment a return decision is implemented. This means that persons that apply for an ETIAS authorisation after having left the EU will – by definition – not have a return record in the SIS. Thirdly, the present initiative seeks to amend the EES Regulation to establish technically its relationship with ETIAS. Fourthly, the initiative also aims at amending the VIS Regulation in order to allow VIS to receive, process and answer ETIAS queries. Although in May 2018, the Commission presented a proposal to amend the VIS Regulation in order to upgrade that database, the present initiative puts forward amendments to the VIS Regulation currently in force, as the negotiations on the proposal for the upgraded VIS are not sufficiently advanced. However, if the proposal to amend the VIS Regulation were to be adopted first, it could become necessary to introduce some technical changes in the present proposal to align it with the amended version of the VIS Regulation. If the present proposal is adopted first, some technical changes could be required in the proposal amending the VIS Regulation before its adoption. In addition, following the adoption of both the EES Regulation and ETIAS Regulation, it is now required to align the way EES and ETIAS are working together on the way EES and VIS are integrated for the purpose of border control process and registration of border crossings in EES. This will rationalise and simplify the work of border guards through the implementation of a more uniform border control process for all third-country national entering for a short stay. The present initiative however does not include the amendments related to Eurodac, the EU asylum and irregular migration database, given that discussions have not yet been concluded on the May 2016 legislative proposal to strengthen Eurodac 14 . Furthermore, the data available in the current Eurodac are not sufficient for ETIAS purposes, given that the existing Eurodac only stores biometric data and a reference number, but no other personal data (e.g. name(s), age, date of birth) that would allow for contributing to the objectives of ETIAS. The May 2016 legislative proposal for a recast Eurodac Regulation seeks to extend the purpose of the database to the identification of illegally staying third-country nationals and those who have entered the EU irregularly. In particular, it provides for the storage of personal data such as the name(s), age, date of birth, nationality, and identity documents. These identity data are essential to ensure that Eurodac will be able to contribute to the objectives of ETIAS. Once the co-legislators reach political agreement on the recast Eurodac Regulation, the recast Eurodac Regulation will need to be supplemented with the necessary amendments to connect Eurodac to ETIAS. Additionally, once the co-legislators adopt the Commission’s legislative proposals 15 for the interoperability of information systems for security, border and migration management, and following political agreement on the proposal for a recast Eurodac Regulation, the Commission will apply the same approach with regards to the necessary amendments to make Eurodac part of the interoperability of information systems . Finally, in line with the April 2016 Communication on "Smarter Information Systems for borders and security", ETIAS is to be built based on a re-use of hardware and software components developed for the EES 16 . This is also the approach followed by the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems 17 . The technical development of the common identity repository and the European search portal as foreseen by the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems would be developed on the basis of the EES/ETIAS components. This proposal therefore presents amendments to the ETIAS Regulation to specify that the ETIAS Central System would build upon the EES Central System’s hardware and software components in order to establish a shared identity repository for the storage of the identity alphanumeric data of both ETIAS applicants and third-country nationals registered in EES. This shared identity repository would be the basis for the implementation of the common identity repository once the co-legislators adopt the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems. Moreover, during a transitional period, before the European search portal is available, the automated processing of ETIAS applications would rely on a tool, which would be used as the basis for the development and implementation of the European search portal. Due to the variable geometry in Member States' participation in EU policies in the area of freedom, security and justice, it is necessary to adopt two separate legal instruments which will nonetheless work seamlessly together to enable the comprehensive operation and use of the system.
Article 63 Amendments to Regulation (EU) 2018/1861
Regulation (EU) 2018/1861 is amended as follows: in Article 3, the following points are added: ‘(22) ‘ESP’ means the European search portal established by Article 6(1) of Regulation (EU) 2019/817 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( *10 ); ‘shared BMS’ means the shared biometric matching service established by Article 12(1) of Regulation (EU) 2019/817; ‘CIR’ means the common identity repository established by Article 17(1) of Regulation (EU) 2019/817; ‘MID’ means the multiple-identity detector established by Article 25(1) of Regulation (EU) 2019/817. Article 4 is amended as follows: in paragraph 1, points (b) and (c) are replaced by the following: ‘(b) a national system (N.SIS) in each of the Member States, consisting of the national data systems which communicate with Central SIS, including at least one national or shared backup N.SIS; ‘(b) (c) a communication infrastructure between CS-SIS, backup CS-SIS and NI-SIS (‘the Communication Infrastructure’) that provides an encrypted virtual network dedicated to SIS data and the exchange of data between SIRENE Bureaux, as referred to in Article 7(2); and (d) a secure communication infrastructure between CS-SIS and the central infrastructures of the ESP, the shared BMS and the MID.’; the following paragraphs are added: ‘8. Without prejudice to paragraphs 1 to 5, SIS data may also be searched via the ESP. 9. Without prejudice to paragraphs 1 to 5, SIS data may also be transmitted via the secure communication infrastructure referred to in point (d) of paragraph 1. These transmissions shall be limited to the extent that the data are required for the purposes of Regulation (EU) 2019/817.’; the following paragraphs are added: ‘8. Without prejudice to paragraphs 1 to 5, SIS data may also be searched via the ESP. 9. Without prejudice to paragraphs 1 to 5, SIS data may also be transmitted via the secure communication infrastructure referred to in point (d) of paragraph 1. These transmissions shall be limited to the extent that the data are required for the purposes of Regulation (EU) 2019/817.’; in Article 7, the following paragraph is inserted: ‘2a. The SIRENE Bureaux shall also ensure the manual verification of different identities in accordance with Article 29 Regulation (EU) 2019/817. To the extent necessary to carry out this task, the SIRENE Bureaux shall have access to the data stored in the CIR and the MID for the purposes laid down in Articles 21 and 26 of Regulation (EU) 2019/817.’; in Article 12, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following: Member States shall ensure that every access to personal data via the ESP is also logged for the purposes of checking whether the search was lawful, monitoring the lawfulness of data processing, self-monitoring, and data integrity and security.’; in Article 34(1), the following point is added: ‘(g) verifying different identities and combating identity fraud in accordance with Chapter V of Regulation (EU) 2019/817.’; (6) in Article 60, paragraph 6 is replaced by the following: ‘6. For the purpose of Article 15(4) and of paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 of this Article, eu-LISA shall store data referred to in Article 15(4) and in paragraph 3 of this Article which shall not allow for the identification of individuals in the central repository for reporting and statistics referred to in Article 39 of Regulation (EU) 2019/817. eu-LISA shall allow the Commission and the bodies referred to in paragraph 5 of this Article to obtain bespoke reports and statistics. Upon request, eu-LISA shall grant access to the central repository for reporting and statistics in accordance with Article 39 of Regulation (EU) 2019/817 to Member States, the Commission, Europol, and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency.’. in Article 60, paragraph 6 is replaced by the following: ‘6. For the purpose of Article 15(4) and of paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 of this Article, eu-LISA shall store data referred to in Article 15(4) and in paragraph 3 of this Article which shall not allow for the identification of individuals in the central repository for reporting and statistics referred to in Article 39 of Regulation (EU) 2019/817. eu-LISA shall allow the Commission and the bodies referred to in paragraph 5 of this Article to obtain bespoke reports and statistics. Upon request, eu-LISA shall grant access to the central repository for reporting and statistics in accordance with Article 39 of Regulation (EU) 2019/817 to Member States, the Commission, Europol, and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency.’.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal In September 2018, the Council and the European Parliament adopted two legislative acts, a Regulation establishing the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (‘ETIAS’) 1 and an amendment of the Europol Regulation for the purpose of establishing ETIAS 2 . Establishing ETIAS is among efforts undertaken in recent years at EU level to enhance the security of citizens and prevent irregular migration in an open Europe, securing and continuing to strengthen the management of external borders 3 , 4 . The context and the establishment of the system were announced in the 2016 State of the Union speech. President Juncker said: ‘ We will defend our borders […] with strict controls […] on everyone crossing them. Every time someone enters or exits the EU, there will be a record of when, where and why. In November [2016] we will propose a European travel information and authorisation system – an automated system to determine who will be allowed to travel to Europe. That way we will know who is travelling to Europe before they even get here ” . ETIAS will fill the information gap on travellers exempt from the requirement of being in possession of a visa when crossing the external borders. ETIAS will determine the eligibility of visa-exempt third-country nationals prior to their travel to the Schengen Area and whether such travel poses a security, irregular migration or high epidemic risk. ETIAS will also give travellers confidence that they would be able to cross the borders smoothly. If needed, ETIAS travel authorisation could be denied by ETIAS National Units. The assessment of such risks will involve automated processing of personal data provided in the applications for travel authorisation. The ETIAS Regulation establishes that personal data in the applications will be compared with the data present in records, files or alerts registered in EU information systems or databases (the ETIAS Central System, Schengen Information System (‘SIS’), the Visa Information System (‘VIS’), the Entry/Exit System ‘(EES’) or Eurodac), in Europol data or in the Interpol databases (the Interpol Stolen and Lost Travel Document database (‘SLTD’) or the Interpol Travel Documents Associated with Notices database (‘TDAWN’)) 5 . While the Regulation defines in its Article 20 which group of data from the ETIAS application files can be used to consult the other systems, not all those data are collected or recorded in the same way in the other EU information systems and Europol data. For instance in one of the systems, ‘country of issue of the travel document’ is collected while in another the same data is recorded in another way, e.g. as ‘three letter code of the issuing country of the travel document’. In other instances, a category of data is collected in one system but not in the other. For instance, ‘first names of parents of applicants’ are collected by ETIAS, but not in most of the other systems to be queried by ETIAS. Also at the time the ETIAS proposal 6 was adopted, the situation as regards the different EU information systems to be queried by ETIAS was different from today. At the time the ETIAS proposal was adopted, two other new EU information technology systems had been proposed to be set up: discussions were ongoing on the EES Regulation 7 while the Commission’s proposal on the European Criminal Records Information System – Third Country Nationals (‘ECRIS-TCN’) 8 was just about to be proposed. As regards existing information systems, the legal texts of the SIS were evolving due to the proposed revisions to the SIS legal framework in December 2016, finally adopted by co-legislators in November 2018 9 . The recast of the Eurodac Regulation 10 had also been proposed by the Commission as part of the reform of the Common European Asylum System, but had not yet been adopted by co-legislators 11 . The recast Eurodac Regulation still remains to be adopted by co-legislators today. Based on these considerations, the ETIAS Regulation stipulates, in its Article 11(2) that: “The amendments to the legal acts establishing the EU information systems that are necessary for establishing their interoperability with ETIAS as well as the addition of corresponding provisions in this Regulation shall be the subject of a separate legal instrument”. The present proposal therefore aims to set out the technical amendments necessary to fully set up the ETIAS system by amending the legal acts of the EU information technology systems ETIAS queries. The present proposal also sets out coresponding provisions and amends the ETIAS Regulation accordingly. First, the present initiative sets out amendments to the Regulation on ECRIS-TCN, on which recently, an ‘agreement in principle’ was found by the co-legislators. Thus, in line with the intention expressed by co-legislators in the ETIAS Regulation 12 it is now possible to include in ETIAS the necessary provisions on the relationship between ETIAS and ECRIS-TCN and to amend ECRIS-TCN accordingly. Secondly, the present initiative also aims to establish the relations between ETIAS and the SIS. The revised SIS legal framework has been adopted in November 2018. The present proposal includes consequential amendments resulting from the adoption of the new SIS Regulations. In line with the new SIS legal framework it is proposed to include the new alert category on inquiry checks 13 for the assessment of applications. It is not proposed to include the alert category on return decisions as such alerts are erased at the moment a return decision is implemented. This means that persons that apply for an ETIAS authorisation after having left the EU will – by definition – not have a return record in the SIS. Thirdly, the present initiative seeks to amend the EES Regulation to establish technically its relationship with ETIAS. Fourthly, the initiative also aims at amending the VIS Regulation in order to allow VIS to receive, process and answer ETIAS queries. Although in May 2018, the Commission presented a proposal to amend the VIS Regulation in order to upgrade that database, the present initiative puts forward amendments to the VIS Regulation currently in force, as the negotiations on the proposal for the upgraded VIS are not sufficiently advanced. However, if the proposal to amend the VIS Regulation were to be adopted first, it could become necessary to introduce some technical changes in the present proposal to align it with the amended version of the VIS Regulation. If the present proposal is adopted first, some technical changes could be required in the proposal amending the VIS Regulation before its adoption. In addition, following the adoption of both the EES Regulation and ETIAS Regulation, it is now required to align the way EES and ETIAS are working together on the way EES and VIS are integrated for the purpose of border control process and registration of border crossings in EES. This will rationalise and simplify the work of border guards through the implementation of a more uniform border control process for all third-country national entering for a short stay. The present initiative however does not include the amendments related to Eurodac, the EU asylum and irregular migration database, given that discussions have not yet been concluded on the May 2016 legislative proposal to strengthen Eurodac 14 . Furthermore, the data available in the current Eurodac are not sufficient for ETIAS purposes, given that the existing Eurodac only stores biometric data and a reference number, but no other personal data (e.g. name(s), age, date of birth) that would allow for contributing to the objectives of ETIAS. The May 2016 legislative proposal for a recast Eurodac Regulation seeks to extend the purpose of the database to the identification of illegally staying third-country nationals and those who have entered the EU irregularly. In particular, it provides for the storage of personal data such as the name(s), age, date of birth, nationality, and identity documents. These identity data are essential to ensure that Eurodac will be able to contribute to the objectives of ETIAS. Once the co-legislators reach political agreement on the recast Eurodac Regulation, the recast Eurodac Regulation will need to be supplemented with the necessary amendments to connect Eurodac to ETIAS. Additionally, once the co-legislators adopt the Commission’s legislative proposals 15 for the interoperability of information systems for security, border and migration management, and following political agreement on the proposal for a recast Eurodac Regulation, the Commission will apply the same approach with regards to the necessary amendments to make Eurodac part of the interoperability of information systems . Finally, in line with the April 2016 Communication on "Smarter Information Systems for borders and security", ETIAS is to be built based on a re-use of hardware and software components developed for the EES 16 . This is also the approach followed by the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems 17 . The technical development of the common identity repository and the European search portal as foreseen by the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems would be developed on the basis of the EES/ETIAS components. This proposal therefore presents amendments to the ETIAS Regulation to specify that the ETIAS Central System would build upon the EES Central System’s hardware and software components in order to establish a shared identity repository for the storage of the identity alphanumeric data of both ETIAS applicants and third-country nationals registered in EES. This shared identity repository would be the basis for the implementation of the common identity repository once the co-legislators adopt the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems. Moreover, during a transitional period, before the European search portal is available, the automated processing of ETIAS applications would rely on a tool, which would be used as the basis for the development and implementation of the European search portal. Due to the variable geometry in Member States' participation in EU policies in the area of freedom, security and justice, it is necessary to adopt two separate legal instruments which will nonetheless work seamlessly together to enable the comprehensive operation and use of the system. 
Revised version (Article 63 Amendments to Regulation (EU) 2018/1861):
Regulation (EU) 2018/1861 is amended as follows: (6) in Article 60, paragraph 6 is replaced by the following: ‘6. For the purpose of Article 15(4) and of paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 of this Article, eu-LISA shall store data referred to in Article 15(4) and in paragraph 3 of this Article which shall not allow for the identification of individuals in the central repository for reporting and statistics referred to in Article 39 of Regulation (EU) 2019/817. eu-LISA shall allow the Commission and the bodies referred to in paragraph 5 of this Article to obtain bespoke reports and statistics. Upon request, eu-LISA shall grant access to the central repository for reporting and statistics in accordance with Article 39 of Regulation (EU) 2019/817 to Member States, the Commission, Europol, and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency.’.
Article 64 Amendments to Decision 2004/512/EC
In Article 1 of Decision 2004/512/EC, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following: ‘2. The Visa Information System shall be based on a centralised architecture and consist of: (b) a central information system, hereinafter referred to as ‘the Central Visa Information System’ (CS-VIS); (c) an interface in each Member State, hereinafter referred to as the ‘National Interface’ (NI-VIS), to provide the connection to the relevant central national authority of the respective Member State; (d) a communication infrastructure between the Central Visa Information System and the National Interfaces; (e) a Secure Communication Channel between the EES Central System and the CS-VIS; (f) a secure communication infrastructure between the VIS Central System and the central infrastructure of the European search portal established by Article 6(1) of Regulation (EU) 2019/817 and of the common identity repository established by Article 17(1) of Regulation (EU) 2019/817.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal In September 2018, the Council and the European Parliament adopted two legislative acts, a Regulation establishing the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (‘ETIAS’) 1 and an amendment of the Europol Regulation for the purpose of establishing ETIAS 2 . Establishing ETIAS is among efforts undertaken in recent years at EU level to enhance the security of citizens and prevent irregular migration in an open Europe, securing and continuing to strengthen the management of external borders 3 , 4 . The context and the establishment of the system were announced in the 2016 State of the Union speech. President Juncker said: ‘ We will defend our borders […] with strict controls […] on everyone crossing them. Every time someone enters or exits the EU, there will be a record of when, where and why. In November [2016] we will propose a European travel information and authorisation system – an automated system to determine who will be allowed to travel to Europe. That way we will know who is travelling to Europe before they even get here ” . ETIAS will fill the information gap on travellers exempt from the requirement of being in possession of a visa when crossing the external borders. ETIAS will determine the eligibility of visa-exempt third-country nationals prior to their travel to the Schengen Area and whether such travel poses a security, irregular migration or high epidemic risk. ETIAS will also give travellers confidence that they would be able to cross the borders smoothly. If needed, ETIAS travel authorisation could be denied by ETIAS National Units. The assessment of such risks will involve automated processing of personal data provided in the applications for travel authorisation. The ETIAS Regulation establishes that personal data in the applications will be compared with the data present in records, files or alerts registered in EU information systems or databases (the ETIAS Central System, Schengen Information System (‘SIS’), the Visa Information System (‘VIS’), the Entry/Exit System ‘(EES’) or Eurodac), in Europol data or in the Interpol databases (the Interpol Stolen and Lost Travel Document database (‘SLTD’) or the Interpol Travel Documents Associated with Notices database (‘TDAWN’)) 5 . While the Regulation defines in its Article 20 which group of data from the ETIAS application files can be used to consult the other systems, not all those data are collected or recorded in the same way in the other EU information systems and Europol data. For instance in one of the systems, ‘country of issue of the travel document’ is collected while in another the same data is recorded in another way, e.g. as ‘three letter code of the issuing country of the travel document’. In other instances, a category of data is collected in one system but not in the other. For instance, ‘first names of parents of applicants’ are collected by ETIAS, but not in most of the other systems to be queried by ETIAS. Also at the time the ETIAS proposal 6 was adopted, the situation as regards the different EU information systems to be queried by ETIAS was different from today. At the time the ETIAS proposal was adopted, two other new EU information technology systems had been proposed to be set up: discussions were ongoing on the EES Regulation 7 while the Commission’s proposal on the European Criminal Records Information System – Third Country Nationals (‘ECRIS-TCN’) 8 was just about to be proposed. As regards existing information systems, the legal texts of the SIS were evolving due to the proposed revisions to the SIS legal framework in December 2016, finally adopted by co-legislators in November 2018 9 . The recast of the Eurodac Regulation 10 had also been proposed by the Commission as part of the reform of the Common European Asylum System, but had not yet been adopted by co-legislators 11 . The recast Eurodac Regulation still remains to be adopted by co-legislators today. Based on these considerations, the ETIAS Regulation stipulates, in its Article 11(2) that: “The amendments to the legal acts establishing the EU information systems that are necessary for establishing their interoperability with ETIAS as well as the addition of corresponding provisions in this Regulation shall be the subject of a separate legal instrument”. The present proposal therefore aims to set out the technical amendments necessary to fully set up the ETIAS system by amending the legal acts of the EU information technology systems ETIAS queries. The present proposal also sets out coresponding provisions and amends the ETIAS Regulation accordingly. First, the present initiative sets out amendments to the Regulation on ECRIS-TCN, on which recently, an ‘agreement in principle’ was found by the co-legislators. Thus, in line with the intention expressed by co-legislators in the ETIAS Regulation 12 it is now possible to include in ETIAS the necessary provisions on the relationship between ETIAS and ECRIS-TCN and to amend ECRIS-TCN accordingly. Secondly, the present initiative also aims to establish the relations between ETIAS and the SIS. The revised SIS legal framework has been adopted in November 2018. The present proposal includes consequential amendments resulting from the adoption of the new SIS Regulations. In line with the new SIS legal framework it is proposed to include the new alert category on inquiry checks 13 for the assessment of applications. It is not proposed to include the alert category on return decisions as such alerts are erased at the moment a return decision is implemented. This means that persons that apply for an ETIAS authorisation after having left the EU will – by definition – not have a return record in the SIS. Thirdly, the present initiative seeks to amend the EES Regulation to establish technically its relationship with ETIAS. Fourthly, the initiative also aims at amending the VIS Regulation in order to allow VIS to receive, process and answer ETIAS queries. Although in May 2018, the Commission presented a proposal to amend the VIS Regulation in order to upgrade that database, the present initiative puts forward amendments to the VIS Regulation currently in force, as the negotiations on the proposal for the upgraded VIS are not sufficiently advanced. However, if the proposal to amend the VIS Regulation were to be adopted first, it could become necessary to introduce some technical changes in the present proposal to align it with the amended version of the VIS Regulation. If the present proposal is adopted first, some technical changes could be required in the proposal amending the VIS Regulation before its adoption. In addition, following the adoption of both the EES Regulation and ETIAS Regulation, it is now required to align the way EES and ETIAS are working together on the way EES and VIS are integrated for the purpose of border control process and registration of border crossings in EES. This will rationalise and simplify the work of border guards through the implementation of a more uniform border control process for all third-country national entering for a short stay. The present initiative however does not include the amendments related to Eurodac, the EU asylum and irregular migration database, given that discussions have not yet been concluded on the May 2016 legislative proposal to strengthen Eurodac 14 . Furthermore, the data available in the current Eurodac are not sufficient for ETIAS purposes, given that the existing Eurodac only stores biometric data and a reference number, but no other personal data (e.g. name(s), age, date of birth) that would allow for contributing to the objectives of ETIAS. The May 2016 legislative proposal for a recast Eurodac Regulation seeks to extend the purpose of the database to the identification of illegally staying third-country nationals and those who have entered the EU irregularly. In particular, it provides for the storage of personal data such as the name(s), age, date of birth, nationality, and identity documents. These identity data are essential to ensure that Eurodac will be able to contribute to the objectives of ETIAS. Once the co-legislators reach political agreement on the recast Eurodac Regulation, the recast Eurodac Regulation will need to be supplemented with the necessary amendments to connect Eurodac to ETIAS. Additionally, once the co-legislators adopt the Commission’s legislative proposals 15 for the interoperability of information systems for security, border and migration management, and following political agreement on the proposal for a recast Eurodac Regulation, the Commission will apply the same approach with regards to the necessary amendments to make Eurodac part of the interoperability of information systems . Finally, in line with the April 2016 Communication on "Smarter Information Systems for borders and security", ETIAS is to be built based on a re-use of hardware and software components developed for the EES 16 . This is also the approach followed by the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems 17 . The technical development of the common identity repository and the European search portal as foreseen by the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems would be developed on the basis of the EES/ETIAS components. This proposal therefore presents amendments to the ETIAS Regulation to specify that the ETIAS Central System would build upon the EES Central System’s hardware and software components in order to establish a shared identity repository for the storage of the identity alphanumeric data of both ETIAS applicants and third-country nationals registered in EES. This shared identity repository would be the basis for the implementation of the common identity repository once the co-legislators adopt the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems. Moreover, during a transitional period, before the European search portal is available, the automated processing of ETIAS applications would rely on a tool, which would be used as the basis for the development and implementation of the European search portal. Due to the variable geometry in Member States' participation in EU policies in the area of freedom, security and justice, it is necessary to adopt two separate legal instruments which will nonetheless work seamlessly together to enable the comprehensive operation and use of the system. 
Revised version (Article 64 Amendments to Decision 2004/512/EC):
In Article 1 of Decision 2004/512/EC, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:
Article 65 Amendments to Decision 2008/633/JHA
Decision 2008/633/JHA is amended as follows: in Article 5, the following paragraph is inserted: in Article 7, the following paragraph is inserted: ‘1a. In cases where Europol has launched a query of the CIR in accordance with Article 22 of Regulation (EU) 2019/817, and where the conditions for access laid down in this Article are met, Europol may access the VIS for consultation where the reply received as referred to in Article 22(2) of that Regulation reveals that data are stored in the VIS.’.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal In September 2018, the Council and the European Parliament adopted two legislative acts, a Regulation establishing the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (‘ETIAS’) 1 and an amendment of the Europol Regulation for the purpose of establishing ETIAS 2 . Establishing ETIAS is among efforts undertaken in recent years at EU level to enhance the security of citizens and prevent irregular migration in an open Europe, securing and continuing to strengthen the management of external borders 3 , 4 . The context and the establishment of the system were announced in the 2016 State of the Union speech. President Juncker said: ‘ We will defend our borders […] with strict controls […] on everyone crossing them. Every time someone enters or exits the EU, there will be a record of when, where and why. In November [2016] we will propose a European travel information and authorisation system – an automated system to determine who will be allowed to travel to Europe. That way we will know who is travelling to Europe before they even get here ” . ETIAS will fill the information gap on travellers exempt from the requirement of being in possession of a visa when crossing the external borders. ETIAS will determine the eligibility of visa-exempt third-country nationals prior to their travel to the Schengen Area and whether such travel poses a security, irregular migration or high epidemic risk. ETIAS will also give travellers confidence that they would be able to cross the borders smoothly. If needed, ETIAS travel authorisation could be denied by ETIAS National Units. The assessment of such risks will involve automated processing of personal data provided in the applications for travel authorisation. The ETIAS Regulation establishes that personal data in the applications will be compared with the data present in records, files or alerts registered in EU information systems or databases (the ETIAS Central System, Schengen Information System (‘SIS’), the Visa Information System (‘VIS’), the Entry/Exit System ‘(EES’) or Eurodac), in Europol data or in the Interpol databases (the Interpol Stolen and Lost Travel Document database (‘SLTD’) or the Interpol Travel Documents Associated with Notices database (‘TDAWN’)) 5 . While the Regulation defines in its Article 20 which group of data from the ETIAS application files can be used to consult the other systems, not all those data are collected or recorded in the same way in the other EU information systems and Europol data. For instance in one of the systems, ‘country of issue of the travel document’ is collected while in another the same data is recorded in another way, e.g. as ‘three letter code of the issuing country of the travel document’. In other instances, a category of data is collected in one system but not in the other. For instance, ‘first names of parents of applicants’ are collected by ETIAS, but not in most of the other systems to be queried by ETIAS. Also at the time the ETIAS proposal 6 was adopted, the situation as regards the different EU information systems to be queried by ETIAS was different from today. At the time the ETIAS proposal was adopted, two other new EU information technology systems had been proposed to be set up: discussions were ongoing on the EES Regulation 7 while the Commission’s proposal on the European Criminal Records Information System – Third Country Nationals (‘ECRIS-TCN’) 8 was just about to be proposed. As regards existing information systems, the legal texts of the SIS were evolving due to the proposed revisions to the SIS legal framework in December 2016, finally adopted by co-legislators in November 2018 9 . The recast of the Eurodac Regulation 10 had also been proposed by the Commission as part of the reform of the Common European Asylum System, but had not yet been adopted by co-legislators 11 . The recast Eurodac Regulation still remains to be adopted by co-legislators today. Based on these considerations, the ETIAS Regulation stipulates, in its Article 11(2) that: “The amendments to the legal acts establishing the EU information systems that are necessary for establishing their interoperability with ETIAS as well as the addition of corresponding provisions in this Regulation shall be the subject of a separate legal instrument”. The present proposal therefore aims to set out the technical amendments necessary to fully set up the ETIAS system by amending the legal acts of the EU information technology systems ETIAS queries. The present proposal also sets out coresponding provisions and amends the ETIAS Regulation accordingly. First, the present initiative sets out amendments to the Regulation on ECRIS-TCN, on which recently, an ‘agreement in principle’ was found by the co-legislators. Thus, in line with the intention expressed by co-legislators in the ETIAS Regulation 12 it is now possible to include in ETIAS the necessary provisions on the relationship between ETIAS and ECRIS-TCN and to amend ECRIS-TCN accordingly. Secondly, the present initiative also aims to establish the relations between ETIAS and the SIS. The revised SIS legal framework has been adopted in November 2018. The present proposal includes consequential amendments resulting from the adoption of the new SIS Regulations. In line with the new SIS legal framework it is proposed to include the new alert category on inquiry checks 13 for the assessment of applications. It is not proposed to include the alert category on return decisions as such alerts are erased at the moment a return decision is implemented. This means that persons that apply for an ETIAS authorisation after having left the EU will – by definition – not have a return record in the SIS. Thirdly, the present initiative seeks to amend the EES Regulation to establish technically its relationship with ETIAS. Fourthly, the initiative also aims at amending the VIS Regulation in order to allow VIS to receive, process and answer ETIAS queries. Although in May 2018, the Commission presented a proposal to amend the VIS Regulation in order to upgrade that database, the present initiative puts forward amendments to the VIS Regulation currently in force, as the negotiations on the proposal for the upgraded VIS are not sufficiently advanced. However, if the proposal to amend the VIS Regulation were to be adopted first, it could become necessary to introduce some technical changes in the present proposal to align it with the amended version of the VIS Regulation. If the present proposal is adopted first, some technical changes could be required in the proposal amending the VIS Regulation before its adoption. In addition, following the adoption of both the EES Regulation and ETIAS Regulation, it is now required to align the way EES and ETIAS are working together on the way EES and VIS are integrated for the purpose of border control process and registration of border crossings in EES. This will rationalise and simplify the work of border guards through the implementation of a more uniform border control process for all third-country national entering for a short stay. The present initiative however does not include the amendments related to Eurodac, the EU asylum and irregular migration database, given that discussions have not yet been concluded on the May 2016 legislative proposal to strengthen Eurodac 14 . Furthermore, the data available in the current Eurodac are not sufficient for ETIAS purposes, given that the existing Eurodac only stores biometric data and a reference number, but no other personal data (e.g. name(s), age, date of birth) that would allow for contributing to the objectives of ETIAS. The May 2016 legislative proposal for a recast Eurodac Regulation seeks to extend the purpose of the database to the identification of illegally staying third-country nationals and those who have entered the EU irregularly. In particular, it provides for the storage of personal data such as the name(s), age, date of birth, nationality, and identity documents. These identity data are essential to ensure that Eurodac will be able to contribute to the objectives of ETIAS. Once the co-legislators reach political agreement on the recast Eurodac Regulation, the recast Eurodac Regulation will need to be supplemented with the necessary amendments to connect Eurodac to ETIAS. Additionally, once the co-legislators adopt the Commission’s legislative proposals 15 for the interoperability of information systems for security, border and migration management, and following political agreement on the proposal for a recast Eurodac Regulation, the Commission will apply the same approach with regards to the necessary amendments to make Eurodac part of the interoperability of information systems . Finally, in line with the April 2016 Communication on "Smarter Information Systems for borders and security", ETIAS is to be built based on a re-use of hardware and software components developed for the EES 16 . This is also the approach followed by the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems 17 . The technical development of the common identity repository and the European search portal as foreseen by the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems would be developed on the basis of the EES/ETIAS components. This proposal therefore presents amendments to the ETIAS Regulation to specify that the ETIAS Central System would build upon the EES Central System’s hardware and software components in order to establish a shared identity repository for the storage of the identity alphanumeric data of both ETIAS applicants and third-country nationals registered in EES. This shared identity repository would be the basis for the implementation of the common identity repository once the co-legislators adopt the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems. Moreover, during a transitional period, before the European search portal is available, the automated processing of ETIAS applications would rely on a tool, which would be used as the basis for the development and implementation of the European search portal. Due to the variable geometry in Member States' participation in EU policies in the area of freedom, security and justice, it is necessary to adopt two separate legal instruments which will nonetheless work seamlessly together to enable the comprehensive operation and use of the system.
Article 66 Reporting and statistics
1. The duly authorised staff of the competent authorities of Member States, the Commission and eu-LISA shall have access to consult the following data related to the ESP, solely for the purposes of reporting and statistics: (a) number of queries per ESP user profile; (b) number of queries to each of the Interpol databases. It shall not be possible to identify individuals from the data. 2. The duly authorised staff of the competent authorities of Member States, the Commission and eu-LISA shall have access to consult the following data related to the CIR, solely for the purposes of reporting and statistics: (a) number of queries for the purposes of Articles 20, 21 and 22; (b) nationality, gender and year of birth of the person; (c) the type of the travel document and the three-letter code of the issuing country; (d) the number of searches conducted with and without biometric data. 3. The duly authorised staff of the competent authorities of Member States, the Commission and eu-LISA shall have access to consult the following data related to the MID, solely for the purposes of reporting and statistics: (b) the number of each type of link and the EU information systems containing the linked data; (c) the period of time for which a yellow and red link remained in the system. 4. The duly authorised staff of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency shall have access to consult the data referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this Article for the purpose of carrying out risk analyses and vulnerability assessments as referred to in Articles 11 and 13 of Regulation (EU) 2016/1624 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 7 ). 5. The duly authorised staff of Europol shall have access to consult the data referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article for the purpose of carrying out strategic, thematic and operational analyses as referred to in Article 18(2)(b) and (c) of Regulation (EU) 2016/794. 6. For the purpose of paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, eu-LISA shall store the data referred to in those paragraphs in the CRRS. It shall not be possible to identify individuals from the data included in the CRRS, but the data shall allow the authorities listed in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 to obtain customisable reports and statistics to enhance the efficiency of border checks, to help authorities processing visa applications and to support evidence-based policy-making on migration and security in the Union. 7. Upon request, relevant information shall be made available by the Commission to the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights in order to evaluate the impact of this Regulation on fundamental rights.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal In September 2018, the Council and the European Parliament adopted two legislative acts, a Regulation establishing the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (‘ETIAS’) 1 and an amendment of the Europol Regulation for the purpose of establishing ETIAS 2 . Establishing ETIAS is among efforts undertaken in recent years at EU level to enhance the security of citizens and prevent irregular migration in an open Europe, securing and continuing to strengthen the management of external borders 3 , 4 . The context and the establishment of the system were announced in the 2016 State of the Union speech. President Juncker said: ‘ We will defend our borders […] with strict controls […] on everyone crossing them. Every time someone enters or exits the EU, there will be a record of when, where and why. In November [2016] we will propose a European travel information and authorisation system – an automated system to determine who will be allowed to travel to Europe. That way we will know who is travelling to Europe before they even get here ” . ETIAS will fill the information gap on travellers exempt from the requirement of being in possession of a visa when crossing the external borders. ETIAS will determine the eligibility of visa-exempt third-country nationals prior to their travel to the Schengen Area and whether such travel poses a security, irregular migration or high epidemic risk. ETIAS will also give travellers confidence that they would be able to cross the borders smoothly. If needed, ETIAS travel authorisation could be denied by ETIAS National Units. The assessment of such risks will involve automated processing of personal data provided in the applications for travel authorisation. The ETIAS Regulation establishes that personal data in the applications will be compared with the data present in records, files or alerts registered in EU information systems or databases (the ETIAS Central System, Schengen Information System (‘SIS’), the Visa Information System (‘VIS’), the Entry/Exit System ‘(EES’) or Eurodac), in Europol data or in the Interpol databases (the Interpol Stolen and Lost Travel Document database (‘SLTD’) or the Interpol Travel Documents Associated with Notices database (‘TDAWN’)) 5 . While the Regulation defines in its Article 20 which group of data from the ETIAS application files can be used to consult the other systems, not all those data are collected or recorded in the same way in the other EU information systems and Europol data. For instance in one of the systems, ‘country of issue of the travel document’ is collected while in another the same data is recorded in another way, e.g. as ‘three letter code of the issuing country of the travel document’. In other instances, a category of data is collected in one system but not in the other. For instance, ‘first names of parents of applicants’ are collected by ETIAS, but not in most of the other systems to be queried by ETIAS. Also at the time the ETIAS proposal 6 was adopted, the situation as regards the different EU information systems to be queried by ETIAS was different from today. At the time the ETIAS proposal was adopted, two other new EU information technology systems had been proposed to be set up: discussions were ongoing on the EES Regulation 7 while the Commission’s proposal on the European Criminal Records Information System – Third Country Nationals (‘ECRIS-TCN’) 8 was just about to be proposed. As regards existing information systems, the legal texts of the SIS were evolving due to the proposed revisions to the SIS legal framework in December 2016, finally adopted by co-legislators in November 2018 9 . The recast of the Eurodac Regulation 10 had also been proposed by the Commission as part of the reform of the Common European Asylum System, but had not yet been adopted by co-legislators 11 . The recast Eurodac Regulation still remains to be adopted by co-legislators today. Based on these considerations, the ETIAS Regulation stipulates, in its Article 11(2) that: “The amendments to the legal acts establishing the EU information systems that are necessary for establishing their interoperability with ETIAS as well as the addition of corresponding provisions in this Regulation shall be the subject of a separate legal instrument”. The present proposal therefore aims to set out the technical amendments necessary to fully set up the ETIAS system by amending the legal acts of the EU information technology systems ETIAS queries. The present proposal also sets out coresponding provisions and amends the ETIAS Regulation accordingly. First, the present initiative sets out amendments to the Regulation on ECRIS-TCN, on which recently, an ‘agreement in principle’ was found by the co-legislators. Thus, in line with the intention expressed by co-legislators in the ETIAS Regulation 12 it is now possible to include in ETIAS the necessary provisions on the relationship between ETIAS and ECRIS-TCN and to amend ECRIS-TCN accordingly. Secondly, the present initiative also aims to establish the relations between ETIAS and the SIS. The revised SIS legal framework has been adopted in November 2018. The present proposal includes consequential amendments resulting from the adoption of the new SIS Regulations. In line with the new SIS legal framework it is proposed to include the new alert category on inquiry checks 13 for the assessment of applications. It is not proposed to include the alert category on return decisions as such alerts are erased at the moment a return decision is implemented. This means that persons that apply for an ETIAS authorisation after having left the EU will – by definition – not have a return record in the SIS. Thirdly, the present initiative seeks to amend the EES Regulation to establish technically its relationship with ETIAS. Fourthly, the initiative also aims at amending the VIS Regulation in order to allow VIS to receive, process and answer ETIAS queries. Although in May 2018, the Commission presented a proposal to amend the VIS Regulation in order to upgrade that database, the present initiative puts forward amendments to the VIS Regulation currently in force, as the negotiations on the proposal for the upgraded VIS are not sufficiently advanced. However, if the proposal to amend the VIS Regulation were to be adopted first, it could become necessary to introduce some technical changes in the present proposal to align it with the amended version of the VIS Regulation. If the present proposal is adopted first, some technical changes could be required in the proposal amending the VIS Regulation before its adoption. In addition, following the adoption of both the EES Regulation and ETIAS Regulation, it is now required to align the way EES and ETIAS are working together on the way EES and VIS are integrated for the purpose of border control process and registration of border crossings in EES. This will rationalise and simplify the work of border guards through the implementation of a more uniform border control process for all third-country national entering for a short stay. The present initiative however does not include the amendments related to Eurodac, the EU asylum and irregular migration database, given that discussions have not yet been concluded on the May 2016 legislative proposal to strengthen Eurodac 14 . Furthermore, the data available in the current Eurodac are not sufficient for ETIAS purposes, given that the existing Eurodac only stores biometric data and a reference number, but no other personal data (e.g. name(s), age, date of birth) that would allow for contributing to the objectives of ETIAS. The May 2016 legislative proposal for a recast Eurodac Regulation seeks to extend the purpose of the database to the identification of illegally staying third-country nationals and those who have entered the EU irregularly. In particular, it provides for the storage of personal data such as the name(s), age, date of birth, nationality, and identity documents. These identity data are essential to ensure that Eurodac will be able to contribute to the objectives of ETIAS. Once the co-legislators reach political agreement on the recast Eurodac Regulation, the recast Eurodac Regulation will need to be supplemented with the necessary amendments to connect Eurodac to ETIAS. Additionally, once the co-legislators adopt the Commission’s legislative proposals 15 for the interoperability of information systems for security, border and migration management, and following political agreement on the proposal for a recast Eurodac Regulation, the Commission will apply the same approach with regards to the necessary amendments to make Eurodac part of the interoperability of information systems . Finally, in line with the April 2016 Communication on "Smarter Information Systems for borders and security", ETIAS is to be built based on a re-use of hardware and software components developed for the EES 16 . This is also the approach followed by the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems 17 . The technical development of the common identity repository and the European search portal as foreseen by the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems would be developed on the basis of the EES/ETIAS components. This proposal therefore presents amendments to the ETIAS Regulation to specify that the ETIAS Central System would build upon the EES Central System’s hardware and software components in order to establish a shared identity repository for the storage of the identity alphanumeric data of both ETIAS applicants and third-country nationals registered in EES. This shared identity repository would be the basis for the implementation of the common identity repository once the co-legislators adopt the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems. Moreover, during a transitional period, before the European search portal is available, the automated processing of ETIAS applications would rely on a tool, which would be used as the basis for the development and implementation of the European search portal. Due to the variable geometry in Member States' participation in EU policies in the area of freedom, security and justice, it is necessary to adopt two separate legal instruments which will nonetheless work seamlessly together to enable the comprehensive operation and use of the system. 
Revised version (Article 66 Reporting and statistics):
1. The duly authorised staff of the competent authorities of Member States, the Commission and eu-LISA shall have access to consult the following data related to the ESP, solely for the purposes of reporting and statistics: (a) number of queries per ESP user profile; (b) number of queries to each of the Interpol databases. It shall not be possible to identify individuals from the data. 4. The duly authorised staff of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency shall have access to consult the data referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this Article for the purpose of carrying out risk analyses and vulnerability assessments as referred to in Articles 11 and 13 of Regulation (EU) 2016/1624 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 7 ). 5. The duly authorised staff of Europol shall have access to consult the data referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article for the purpose of carrying out strategic, thematic and operational analyses as referred to in Article 18(2)(b) and (c) of Regulation (EU) 2016/794. 6. For the purpose of paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, eu-LISA shall store the data referred to in those paragraphs in the CRRS. It shall not be possible to identify individuals from the data included in the CRRS, but the data shall allow the authorities listed in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 to obtain customisable reports and statistics to enhance the efficiency of border checks, to help authorities processing visa applications and to support evidence-based policy-making on migration and security in the Union. 7. Upon request, relevant information shall be made available by the Commission to the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights in order to evaluate the impact of this Regulation on fundamental rights.
Article 67 Transitional period for the use of the European search portal
1. For a period of two years from the date the ESP commences operations, the obligations referred to in Article 7(2) and (4) shall not apply and the utilisation of the ESP shall be optional. 2. The Commission is empowered to adopt a delegated act in accordance with Article 73 in order to amend this Regulation by extending the period referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article once, by no longer than one year, when an assessment of the implementation of the ESP has shown that such an extension is necessary, especially in view of the impact that bringing the ESP into operation would have on the organisation and length of border checks.
Article 68 Transitional period applicable to the provisions on access to the common identity repository for the purposes of preventing, detecting or investigating terrorist offences or other serious criminal offences
Article 22, points 8 and 9 of Article 60, points 10 and 11 of Article 61 and Article 65 shall apply from the date of the start of operations of the CIR referred to in Article 72(3).
Article 69 Transitional period for multiple-identity detection
1. For a period of one year following notification by eu-LISA of the completion of the test of the MID referred to in Article 72(4)(b) and before the start of operations of the MID, the ETIAS Central Unit shall be responsible for carrying out multiple-identity detection using the data stored in the EES, VIS, Eurodac and SIS. The multiple-identity detections shall be carried out using only biometric data. 2. Where the query reports one or several matches and the identity data in the linked files are the same or similar, a white link shall be created in accordance with Article 33. Where the query reports one or several matches and the identity data in the linked files cannot be considered to be similar, a yellow link shall be created in accordance with Article 30 and the procedure referred to in Article 29 shall apply. Where several matches are reported, a link shall be created between each piece of data triggering the match. 3. Where a yellow link is created, the MID shall grant access to the identity data present in the different EU information systems to the ETIAS Central Unit. 4. Where a link is created to an alert in SIS other than an alert created under Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1860, Articles 24 and 25 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1861, or Article 38 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1862, the MID shall grant access to the identity data present in the different information systems to the SIRENE Bureau of the Member State that created the alert. 5. The ETIAS Central Unit or, in the cases referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article the SIRENE Bureau of the Member State that created the alert, shall have access to the data contained in the identity confirmation file and shall assess the different identities and shall update the link in accordance with Articles 31, 32 and 33 and add it to the identity confirmation file. 6. The ETIAS Central Unit shall notify the Commission in accordance with Article 71(3) only once all yellow links have been manually verified and their status updated as either green, white or red links. 7. Member States shall assist the ETIAS Central Unit where necessary in carrying out multiple-identity detection under this Article. 8. The Commission is empowered to adopt a delegated act in accordance with Article 73 in order to amend this Regulation by extending the period referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article by six months, renewable twice by six months each time. Such an extension shall only be granted following an assessment of the estimated completion time for multiple-identity detection under this Article, which demonstrates that the multiple-identity detection cannot be completed before expiry of the period remaining either under paragraph 1 of this Article or any ongoing extension, for reasons independent of the ETIAS Central Unit, and that no corrective measures can be applied. The assessment shall be carried out no later than three months before the expiry of such period or ongoing extension.
Article 70 Costs
1. The costs incurred in connection with the establishment and operation of the ESP, the shared BMS, the CIR and the MID shall be borne by the general budget of the Union. 2. Costs incurred in connection with the integration of the existing national infrastructures and their connection to the national uniform interfaces as well as in connection with hosting the national uniform interfaces shall be borne by the general budget of the Union. The following costs shall be excluded: (a) Member States' project management office (meetings, missions, offices); (b) hosting of national IT systems (space, implementation, electricity, cooling); (c) operation of national IT systems (operators and support contracts); (d) design, development, implementation, operation and maintenance of national communication networks. 3. Without prejudice to further funding for this purpose from other sources of the general budget of the European Union, an amount of EUR 32 077 000 shall be mobilised from the envelope of EUR 791 000 000 foreseen under Article 5(5)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 515/2014 to cover the costs of implementation of this Regulation, as foreseen under paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article. 4. From the envelope referred to in paragraph 3, EUR 22 861 000 shall be allocated to eu-LISA, EUR 9 072 000 shall be allocated to Europol and EUR 144 000 shall be allocated to the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL) to support these agencies in performing their respective tasks under this Regulation. Such funding shall be implemented under indirect management. 5. The costs incurred by the designated authorities shall be borne by the designating Member States respectively. The costs of connecting each designated authority to the CIR shall be borne by each Member State. The costs incurred by Europol, including of connection to the CIR, shall be borne by Europol.
Article 71 Notifications
1. The Member States shall notify eu-LISA of the authorities referred to in Articles 7, 20, 21 and 26 that may use or have access to the ESP, the CIR and the MID respectively. A consolidated list of those authorities shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union within a period of three months from the date on which each interoperability component commenced operations in accordance with Article 72. Where there are amendments to the list, eu-LISA shall publish an updated consolidated list once a year. 2. eu-LISA shall notify the Commission of the successful completion of the tests referred to in Article 72(1)(b), (2)(b), (3)(b), (4)(b), (5)(b) and (6)(b). 3. The ETIAS Central Unit shall notify the Commission of the successful completion of the transitional period laid down in Article 69. 4. The Commission shall make the information notified pursuant to paragraph 1 available to the Member States and to the public, via a constantly updated public website.
Article 72 Start of operations
1. The Commission shall determine the date from which the ESP is to start operations by means of an implementing act once the following conditions have been met: (b) eu-LISA has declared the successful completion of a comprehensive test of the ESP, which it has conducted in cooperation with the Member States authorities and the Union agencies that may use the ESP; (c) eu-LISA has validated the technical and legal arrangements to collect and transmit the data referred to in Article 8(1) and has notified them to the Commission. The ESP shall only query the Interpol databases once the technical arrangements allow compliance with Article 9(5). Any impossibility of complying with Article 9(5) shall have the result that the ESP does not query the Interpol databases but shall not delay the start of operations of the ESP. The Commission shall set the date referred to in the first subparagraph to be within 30 days from adoption of the implementing act. 2. The Commission shall determine the date from which the shared BMS is to start operations by means of an implementing act once the following conditions have been met: the measures referred to in Articles 13(5) and 43(5) have been adopted; (b) eu-LISA has declared the successful completion of a comprehensive test of the shared BMS, which it has conducted in cooperation with the Member States authorities; (c) eu-LISA has validated the technical and legal arrangements to collect and transmit the data referred to in Article 13 and has notified them to the Commission; (d) eu-LISA has declared the successful completion of the test referred to in paragraph 5(b). 3. The Commission shall determine the date from which the CIR is to start operations by means of an implementing act once the following conditions have been met: the measures referred to in Articles 43(5) and 78(10) have been adopted; (b) eu-LISA has declared the successful completion of a comprehensive test of the CIR, which it has conducted in cooperation with the Member States authorities; (c) eu-LISA has validated the technical and legal arrangements to collect and transmit the data referred to in Article 18 and has notified them to the Commission; 4. The Commission shall determine the date from which the MID is to start operations by means of an implementing act once the following conditions have been met: (b) eu-LISA has declared the successful completion of a comprehensive test of the MID, which it has conducted in cooperation with the Member States authorities and the ETIAS Central Unit; (c) eu-LISA has validated the technical and legal arrangements to collect and transmit the data referred to in Article 34 and has notified them to the Commission; (d) the ETIAS Central Unit has notified the Commission in accordance with Article 71(3); 5. The Commission shall determine by means of implementing acts the date from which the automated data quality control mechanisms and procedures, the common data quality indicators and the minimum data quality standards are to be used, once the following conditions have been met: (a) the measures referred to in Articles 37(4) have been adopted; (b) eu-LISA has declared the successful completion of a comprehensive test of the automated data quality control mechanisms and procedures, the common data quality indicators and the minimum data quality standards, which it has conducted in cooperation with the Member States authorities. 6. The Commission shall determine the date from which the CRRS is to start operations by means of an implementing act once the following conditions have been met: the measures referred to in Articles 39(5) and 43(5) have been adopted; (b) eu-LISA has declared the successful completion of a comprehensive test of the CRRS, which it has conducted in cooperation with the Member States authorities; (c) eu-LISA has validated the technical and legal arrangements to collect and transmit the data referred to in Article 39 and has notified them to the Commission. 7. The Commission shall inform the European Parliament and the Council of the results of the tests carried out pursuant to paragraphs 1(b), 2(b), 3(b), 4(b), 5(b) and 6(b). 8. Member States, the ETIAS Central Unit and Europol shall start using each of the interoperability components from the date determined by the Commission in accordance with paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal In September 2018, the Council and the European Parliament adopted two legislative acts, a Regulation establishing the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (‘ETIAS’) 1 and an amendment of the Europol Regulation for the purpose of establishing ETIAS 2 . Establishing ETIAS is among efforts undertaken in recent years at EU level to enhance the security of citizens and prevent irregular migration in an open Europe, securing and continuing to strengthen the management of external borders 3 , 4 . The context and the establishment of the system were announced in the 2016 State of the Union speech. President Juncker said: ‘ We will defend our borders […] with strict controls […] on everyone crossing them. Every time someone enters or exits the EU, there will be a record of when, where and why. In November [2016] we will propose a European travel information and authorisation system – an automated system to determine who will be allowed to travel to Europe. That way we will know who is travelling to Europe before they even get here ” . ETIAS will fill the information gap on travellers exempt from the requirement of being in possession of a visa when crossing the external borders. ETIAS will determine the eligibility of visa-exempt third-country nationals prior to their travel to the Schengen Area and whether such travel poses a security, irregular migration or high epidemic risk. ETIAS will also give travellers confidence that they would be able to cross the borders smoothly. If needed, ETIAS travel authorisation could be denied by ETIAS National Units. The assessment of such risks will involve automated processing of personal data provided in the applications for travel authorisation. The ETIAS Regulation establishes that personal data in the applications will be compared with the data present in records, files or alerts registered in EU information systems or databases (the ETIAS Central System, Schengen Information System (‘SIS’), the Visa Information System (‘VIS’), the Entry/Exit System ‘(EES’) or Eurodac), in Europol data or in the Interpol databases (the Interpol Stolen and Lost Travel Document database (‘SLTD’) or the Interpol Travel Documents Associated with Notices database (‘TDAWN’)) 5 . While the Regulation defines in its Article 20 which group of data from the ETIAS application files can be used to consult the other systems, not all those data are collected or recorded in the same way in the other EU information systems and Europol data. For instance in one of the systems, ‘country of issue of the travel document’ is collected while in another the same data is recorded in another way, e.g. as ‘three letter code of the issuing country of the travel document’. In other instances, a category of data is collected in one system but not in the other. For instance, ‘first names of parents of applicants’ are collected by ETIAS, but not in most of the other systems to be queried by ETIAS. Also at the time the ETIAS proposal 6 was adopted, the situation as regards the different EU information systems to be queried by ETIAS was different from today. At the time the ETIAS proposal was adopted, two other new EU information technology systems had been proposed to be set up: discussions were ongoing on the EES Regulation 7 while the Commission’s proposal on the European Criminal Records Information System – Third Country Nationals (‘ECRIS-TCN’) 8 was just about to be proposed. As regards existing information systems, the legal texts of the SIS were evolving due to the proposed revisions to the SIS legal framework in December 2016, finally adopted by co-legislators in November 2018 9 . The recast of the Eurodac Regulation 10 had also been proposed by the Commission as part of the reform of the Common European Asylum System, but had not yet been adopted by co-legislators 11 . The recast Eurodac Regulation still remains to be adopted by co-legislators today. Based on these considerations, the ETIAS Regulation stipulates, in its Article 11(2) that: “The amendments to the legal acts establishing the EU information systems that are necessary for establishing their interoperability with ETIAS as well as the addition of corresponding provisions in this Regulation shall be the subject of a separate legal instrument”. The present proposal therefore aims to set out the technical amendments necessary to fully set up the ETIAS system by amending the legal acts of the EU information technology systems ETIAS queries. The present proposal also sets out coresponding provisions and amends the ETIAS Regulation accordingly. First, the present initiative sets out amendments to the Regulation on ECRIS-TCN, on which recently, an ‘agreement in principle’ was found by the co-legislators. Thus, in line with the intention expressed by co-legislators in the ETIAS Regulation 12 it is now possible to include in ETIAS the necessary provisions on the relationship between ETIAS and ECRIS-TCN and to amend ECRIS-TCN accordingly. Secondly, the present initiative also aims to establish the relations between ETIAS and the SIS. The revised SIS legal framework has been adopted in November 2018. The present proposal includes consequential amendments resulting from the adoption of the new SIS Regulations. In line with the new SIS legal framework it is proposed to include the new alert category on inquiry checks 13 for the assessment of applications. It is not proposed to include the alert category on return decisions as such alerts are erased at the moment a return decision is implemented. This means that persons that apply for an ETIAS authorisation after having left the EU will – by definition – not have a return record in the SIS. Thirdly, the present initiative seeks to amend the EES Regulation to establish technically its relationship with ETIAS. Fourthly, the initiative also aims at amending the VIS Regulation in order to allow VIS to receive, process and answer ETIAS queries. Although in May 2018, the Commission presented a proposal to amend the VIS Regulation in order to upgrade that database, the present initiative puts forward amendments to the VIS Regulation currently in force, as the negotiations on the proposal for the upgraded VIS are not sufficiently advanced. However, if the proposal to amend the VIS Regulation were to be adopted first, it could become necessary to introduce some technical changes in the present proposal to align it with the amended version of the VIS Regulation. If the present proposal is adopted first, some technical changes could be required in the proposal amending the VIS Regulation before its adoption. In addition, following the adoption of both the EES Regulation and ETIAS Regulation, it is now required to align the way EES and ETIAS are working together on the way EES and VIS are integrated for the purpose of border control process and registration of border crossings in EES. This will rationalise and simplify the work of border guards through the implementation of a more uniform border control process for all third-country national entering for a short stay. The present initiative however does not include the amendments related to Eurodac, the EU asylum and irregular migration database, given that discussions have not yet been concluded on the May 2016 legislative proposal to strengthen Eurodac 14 . Furthermore, the data available in the current Eurodac are not sufficient for ETIAS purposes, given that the existing Eurodac only stores biometric data and a reference number, but no other personal data (e.g. name(s), age, date of birth) that would allow for contributing to the objectives of ETIAS. The May 2016 legislative proposal for a recast Eurodac Regulation seeks to extend the purpose of the database to the identification of illegally staying third-country nationals and those who have entered the EU irregularly. In particular, it provides for the storage of personal data such as the name(s), age, date of birth, nationality, and identity documents. These identity data are essential to ensure that Eurodac will be able to contribute to the objectives of ETIAS. Once the co-legislators reach political agreement on the recast Eurodac Regulation, the recast Eurodac Regulation will need to be supplemented with the necessary amendments to connect Eurodac to ETIAS. Additionally, once the co-legislators adopt the Commission’s legislative proposals 15 for the interoperability of information systems for security, border and migration management, and following political agreement on the proposal for a recast Eurodac Regulation, the Commission will apply the same approach with regards to the necessary amendments to make Eurodac part of the interoperability of information systems . Finally, in line with the April 2016 Communication on "Smarter Information Systems for borders and security", ETIAS is to be built based on a re-use of hardware and software components developed for the EES 16 . This is also the approach followed by the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems 17 . The technical development of the common identity repository and the European search portal as foreseen by the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems would be developed on the basis of the EES/ETIAS components. This proposal therefore presents amendments to the ETIAS Regulation to specify that the ETIAS Central System would build upon the EES Central System’s hardware and software components in order to establish a shared identity repository for the storage of the identity alphanumeric data of both ETIAS applicants and third-country nationals registered in EES. This shared identity repository would be the basis for the implementation of the common identity repository once the co-legislators adopt the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems. Moreover, during a transitional period, before the European search portal is available, the automated processing of ETIAS applications would rely on a tool, which would be used as the basis for the development and implementation of the European search portal. Due to the variable geometry in Member States' participation in EU policies in the area of freedom, security and justice, it is necessary to adopt two separate legal instruments which will nonetheless work seamlessly together to enable the comprehensive operation and use of the system. 
Revised version (Article 72 Start of operations):
The ESP shall only query the Interpol databases once the technical arrangements allow compliance with Article 9(5). Any impossibility of complying with Article 9(5) shall have the result that the ESP does not query the Interpol databases but shall not delay the start of operations of the ESP. The Commission shall set the date referred to in the first subparagraph to be within 30 days from adoption of the implementing act. 7. The Commission shall inform the European Parliament and the Council of the results of the tests carried out pursuant to paragraphs 1(b), 2(b), 3(b), 4(b), 5(b) and 6(b). 8. Member States, the ETIAS Central Unit and Europol shall start using each of the interoperability components from the date determined by the Commission in accordance with paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively.
Article 73 Exercise of the delegation
1. The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article. 2. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Articles 28(5), 39(5), 49(6), 67(2) and 69(8) shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of five years from 11 June 2019. The Commission shall draw up a report in respect of the delegation of power not later than nine months before the end of the five-year period. The delegation of power shall be tacitly extended for periods of an identical duration, unless the European Parliament or the Council opposes such extension not later than three months before the end of each period. 3. The delegation of power referred to in Articles 28(5), 39(5), 49(6), 67(2) and 69(8) may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force. 4. Before adopting a delegated act, the Commission shall consult experts designated by each Member State in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making. 5. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council. 6. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Articles 28(5), 39(5), 49(6), 67(2) and 69(8) shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.
Article 74 Committee procedure
1. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee. That committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011. 2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply. Where the committee delivers no opinion, the Commission shall not adopt the draft implementing act and the third subparagraph of Article 5(4) of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.
Article 75 Advisory Group
An Interoperability Advisory Group shall be established by eu-LISA. During the design and development phase of the interoperability components, Article 54(4), (5) and (6) shall apply.
Article 76 Training
eu-LISA shall perform tasks related to the provision of training on the technical use of the interoperability components in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1726. Member States authorities and Union agencies shall provide their staff authorised to process data using the interoperability components, with appropriate training programmes concerning data security, data quality, data protection rules, the procedures applicable to data processing and the obligations to inform under Articles 32(4), 33(4) and 47. Where appropriate, joint training courses on these topics shall be organised at Union level to enhance cooperation and the exchange of best practices between the staff of Member States authorities and Union agencies who are authorised to process data using the interoperability components. Particular attention shall be paid to the process of multiple-identity detection, including the manual verification of different identities and the accompanying need to maintain appropriate safeguards of fundamental rights.
Article 77 Practical handbook
The Commission shall, in close cooperation with the Member States, eu-LISA and other relevant Union agencies, make available a practical handbook for the implementation and management of the interoperability components. The practical handbook shall provide technical and operational guidelines, recommendations and best practices. The Commission shall adopt the practical handbook in the form of a recommendation.
Article 78 Monitoring and evaluation
1. eu-LISA shall ensure that procedures are in place to monitor the development of the interoperability components and their connection to the national uniform interface in light of objectives relating to planning and costs and to monitor the functioning of the interoperability components in light of objectives relating to the technical output, cost-effectiveness, security and quality of service. 2. By 12 December 2019 and every six months thereafter during the development phase of the interoperability components, eu-LISA shall submit a report to the European Parliament and to the Council on the state of play of the development of the interoperability components, as well as their connection to the national uniform interface. Once the development is finalised, a report shall be submitted to the European Parliament and to the Council explaining in detail how the objectives, in particular relating to planning and costs, were achieved, as well as justifying any divergences. 3. Four years after the start of operations of each interoperability component in accordance with Article 72 and every four years thereafter, eu-LISA shall submit to the European Parliament, to the Council and to the Commission a report on the technical functioning of the interoperability components, including their security. 4. In addition, one year after each report from eu-LISA, the Commission shall produce an overall evaluation of the interoperability components, including: (a) an assessment of the application of this Regulation; (b) an examination of the results achieved against the objectives of this Regulation and its impact on fundamental rights, including in particular an assessment of the impact of the interoperability components on the right to non-discrimination; (c) an assessment of the functioning of the web portal, including figures regarding the use of the web portal and the number of requests that were resolved; (d) an assessment of the continuing validity of the underlying rationale of the interoperability components; (e) an assessment of the security of the interoperability components; (f) an assessment of the use of the CIR for identification; (g) an assessment of the use of the CIR for preventing, detecting or investigating terrorist offences or other serious criminal offences; (h) an assessment of any implications, including any disproportionate impact on the flow of traffic at border crossing points and those with a budgetary impact on the general budget of the Union; (i) an assessment of the search of the Interpol databases via the ESP, including information on the number of matches against Interpol databases and information on any problems encountered. The overall evaluation under the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall include any necessary recommendations. The Commission shall transmit the evaluation report to the European Parliament, to the Council, to the European Data Protection Supervisor and to the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. 5. By 12 June 2020 and every year thereafter until the implementing acts of the Commission referred to in Article 72 have been adopted, the Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament and to the Council on the state of play of preparations for the full implementation of this Regulation. That report shall contain also detailed information about the costs incurred and information as to any risks which may impact the overall costs. 6. Two years after the start of operations of the MID in accordance with Article 72(4), the Commission shall produce an examination of the impact of the MID on the right to non-discrimination. Following this first report, the examination of the impact of the MID on the right to non-discrimination shall be part of the examination referred to in paragraph 4(b) of this Article. 7. The Member States and Europol shall provide eu-LISA and the Commission with the information necessary to draft the reports referred to in paragraphs 3 to 6. This information shall not jeopardise working methods or include information that reveals sources, staff members or investigations of the designated authorities. 8. eu-LISA shall provide the Commission with the information necessary to produce the overall evaluation referred to in paragraph 4. 9. While respecting the provisions of national law on the publication of sensitive information, and without prejudice to limitations necessary to protect security and public order, prevent crime and guarantee that no national investigation will be jeopardised, each Member State and Europol shall prepare annual reports on the effectiveness of access to data stored in the CIR for the purposes of preventing, detecting or investigating terrorist offences or other serious criminal offences, containing information and statistics on: (a) the exact purposes of the consultations including the types of terrorist offences or other serious criminal offences; (c) the number of requests for access to the CIR for the purposes of preventing, detecting or investigating terrorist offences or other serious criminal offences; (d) the number and types of cases that have ended in successful identifications; (e) the need and use made of the exceptions for cases of urgency including those cases where that urgency was not accepted by the ex post verification carried out by the central access point. The annual reports prepared by the Member State and Europol shall be transmitted to the Commission by 30 June of the subsequent year. 10. A technical solution shall be made available to Member States in order to manage user access requests referred to in Article 22 and to facilitate the collection of the information under paragraphs 7 and 9 of this Article for the purpose of generating reports and statistics referred to in those paragraphs. The Commission shall adopt implementing acts to lay down the specifications of the technical solution. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 74(2).
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal In September 2018, the Council and the European Parliament adopted two legislative acts, a Regulation establishing the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (‘ETIAS’) 1 and an amendment of the Europol Regulation for the purpose of establishing ETIAS 2 . Establishing ETIAS is among efforts undertaken in recent years at EU level to enhance the security of citizens and prevent irregular migration in an open Europe, securing and continuing to strengthen the management of external borders 3 , 4 . The context and the establishment of the system were announced in the 2016 State of the Union speech. President Juncker said: ‘ We will defend our borders […] with strict controls […] on everyone crossing them. Every time someone enters or exits the EU, there will be a record of when, where and why. In November [2016] we will propose a European travel information and authorisation system – an automated system to determine who will be allowed to travel to Europe. That way we will know who is travelling to Europe before they even get here ” . ETIAS will fill the information gap on travellers exempt from the requirement of being in possession of a visa when crossing the external borders. ETIAS will determine the eligibility of visa-exempt third-country nationals prior to their travel to the Schengen Area and whether such travel poses a security, irregular migration or high epidemic risk. ETIAS will also give travellers confidence that they would be able to cross the borders smoothly. If needed, ETIAS travel authorisation could be denied by ETIAS National Units. The assessment of such risks will involve automated processing of personal data provided in the applications for travel authorisation. The ETIAS Regulation establishes that personal data in the applications will be compared with the data present in records, files or alerts registered in EU information systems or databases (the ETIAS Central System, Schengen Information System (‘SIS’), the Visa Information System (‘VIS’), the Entry/Exit System ‘(EES’) or Eurodac), in Europol data or in the Interpol databases (the Interpol Stolen and Lost Travel Document database (‘SLTD’) or the Interpol Travel Documents Associated with Notices database (‘TDAWN’)) 5 . While the Regulation defines in its Article 20 which group of data from the ETIAS application files can be used to consult the other systems, not all those data are collected or recorded in the same way in the other EU information systems and Europol data. For instance in one of the systems, ‘country of issue of the travel document’ is collected while in another the same data is recorded in another way, e.g. as ‘three letter code of the issuing country of the travel document’. In other instances, a category of data is collected in one system but not in the other. For instance, ‘first names of parents of applicants’ are collected by ETIAS, but not in most of the other systems to be queried by ETIAS. Also at the time the ETIAS proposal 6 was adopted, the situation as regards the different EU information systems to be queried by ETIAS was different from today. At the time the ETIAS proposal was adopted, two other new EU information technology systems had been proposed to be set up: discussions were ongoing on the EES Regulation 7 while the Commission’s proposal on the European Criminal Records Information System – Third Country Nationals (‘ECRIS-TCN’) 8 was just about to be proposed. As regards existing information systems, the legal texts of the SIS were evolving due to the proposed revisions to the SIS legal framework in December 2016, finally adopted by co-legislators in November 2018 9 . The recast of the Eurodac Regulation 10 had also been proposed by the Commission as part of the reform of the Common European Asylum System, but had not yet been adopted by co-legislators 11 . The recast Eurodac Regulation still remains to be adopted by co-legislators today. Based on these considerations, the ETIAS Regulation stipulates, in its Article 11(2) that: “The amendments to the legal acts establishing the EU information systems that are necessary for establishing their interoperability with ETIAS as well as the addition of corresponding provisions in this Regulation shall be the subject of a separate legal instrument”. The present proposal therefore aims to set out the technical amendments necessary to fully set up the ETIAS system by amending the legal acts of the EU information technology systems ETIAS queries. The present proposal also sets out coresponding provisions and amends the ETIAS Regulation accordingly. First, the present initiative sets out amendments to the Regulation on ECRIS-TCN, on which recently, an ‘agreement in principle’ was found by the co-legislators. Thus, in line with the intention expressed by co-legislators in the ETIAS Regulation 12 it is now possible to include in ETIAS the necessary provisions on the relationship between ETIAS and ECRIS-TCN and to amend ECRIS-TCN accordingly. Secondly, the present initiative also aims to establish the relations between ETIAS and the SIS. The revised SIS legal framework has been adopted in November 2018. The present proposal includes consequential amendments resulting from the adoption of the new SIS Regulations. In line with the new SIS legal framework it is proposed to include the new alert category on inquiry checks 13 for the assessment of applications. It is not proposed to include the alert category on return decisions as such alerts are erased at the moment a return decision is implemented. This means that persons that apply for an ETIAS authorisation after having left the EU will – by definition – not have a return record in the SIS. Thirdly, the present initiative seeks to amend the EES Regulation to establish technically its relationship with ETIAS. Fourthly, the initiative also aims at amending the VIS Regulation in order to allow VIS to receive, process and answer ETIAS queries. Although in May 2018, the Commission presented a proposal to amend the VIS Regulation in order to upgrade that database, the present initiative puts forward amendments to the VIS Regulation currently in force, as the negotiations on the proposal for the upgraded VIS are not sufficiently advanced. However, if the proposal to amend the VIS Regulation were to be adopted first, it could become necessary to introduce some technical changes in the present proposal to align it with the amended version of the VIS Regulation. If the present proposal is adopted first, some technical changes could be required in the proposal amending the VIS Regulation before its adoption. In addition, following the adoption of both the EES Regulation and ETIAS Regulation, it is now required to align the way EES and ETIAS are working together on the way EES and VIS are integrated for the purpose of border control process and registration of border crossings in EES. This will rationalise and simplify the work of border guards through the implementation of a more uniform border control process for all third-country national entering for a short stay. The present initiative however does not include the amendments related to Eurodac, the EU asylum and irregular migration database, given that discussions have not yet been concluded on the May 2016 legislative proposal to strengthen Eurodac 14 . Furthermore, the data available in the current Eurodac are not sufficient for ETIAS purposes, given that the existing Eurodac only stores biometric data and a reference number, but no other personal data (e.g. name(s), age, date of birth) that would allow for contributing to the objectives of ETIAS. The May 2016 legislative proposal for a recast Eurodac Regulation seeks to extend the purpose of the database to the identification of illegally staying third-country nationals and those who have entered the EU irregularly. In particular, it provides for the storage of personal data such as the name(s), age, date of birth, nationality, and identity documents. These identity data are essential to ensure that Eurodac will be able to contribute to the objectives of ETIAS. Once the co-legislators reach political agreement on the recast Eurodac Regulation, the recast Eurodac Regulation will need to be supplemented with the necessary amendments to connect Eurodac to ETIAS. Additionally, once the co-legislators adopt the Commission’s legislative proposals 15 for the interoperability of information systems for security, border and migration management, and following political agreement on the proposal for a recast Eurodac Regulation, the Commission will apply the same approach with regards to the necessary amendments to make Eurodac part of the interoperability of information systems . Finally, in line with the April 2016 Communication on "Smarter Information Systems for borders and security", ETIAS is to be built based on a re-use of hardware and software components developed for the EES 16 . This is also the approach followed by the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems 17 . The technical development of the common identity repository and the European search portal as foreseen by the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems would be developed on the basis of the EES/ETIAS components. This proposal therefore presents amendments to the ETIAS Regulation to specify that the ETIAS Central System would build upon the EES Central System’s hardware and software components in order to establish a shared identity repository for the storage of the identity alphanumeric data of both ETIAS applicants and third-country nationals registered in EES. This shared identity repository would be the basis for the implementation of the common identity repository once the co-legislators adopt the legislative proposals on the interoperability of information systems. Moreover, during a transitional period, before the European search portal is available, the automated processing of ETIAS applications would rely on a tool, which would be used as the basis for the development and implementation of the European search portal. Due to the variable geometry in Member States' participation in EU policies in the area of freedom, security and justice, it is necessary to adopt two separate legal instruments which will nonetheless work seamlessly together to enable the comprehensive operation and use of the system. 
Revised version (Article 78 Monitoring and evaluation):
1. eu-LISA shall ensure that procedures are in place to monitor the development of the interoperability components and their connection to the national uniform interface in light of objectives relating to planning and costs and to monitor the functioning of the interoperability components in light of objectives relating to the technical output, cost-effectiveness, security and quality of service. 2. By 12 December 2019 and every six months thereafter during the development phase of the interoperability components, eu-LISA shall submit a report to the European Parliament and to the Council on the state of play of the development of the interoperability components, as well as their connection to the national uniform interface. Once the development is finalised, a report shall be submitted to the European Parliament and to the Council explaining in detail how the objectives, in particular relating to planning and costs, were achieved, as well as justifying any divergences. 3. Four years after the start of operations of each interoperability component in accordance with Article 72 and every four years thereafter, eu-LISA shall submit to the European Parliament, to the Council and to the Commission a report on the technical functioning of the interoperability components, including their security. The overall evaluation under the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall include any necessary recommendations. The Commission shall transmit the evaluation report to the European Parliament, to the Council, to the European Data Protection Supervisor and to the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. 5. By 12 June 2020 and every year thereafter until the implementing acts of the Commission referred to in Article 72 have been adopted, the Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament and to the Council on the state of play of preparations for the full implementation of this Regulation. That report shall contain also detailed information about the costs incurred and information as to any risks which may impact the overall costs. 6. Two years after the start of operations of the MID in accordance with Article 72(4), the Commission shall produce an examination of the impact of the MID on the right to non-discrimination. Following this first report, the examination of the impact of the MID on the right to non-discrimination shall be part of the examination referred to in paragraph 4(b) of this Article. 7. The Member States and Europol shall provide eu-LISA and the Commission with the information necessary to draft the reports referred to in paragraphs 3 to 6. This information shall not jeopardise working methods or include information that reveals sources, staff members or investigations of the designated authorities. 8. eu-LISA shall provide the Commission with the information necessary to produce the overall evaluation referred to in paragraph 4. The annual reports prepared by the Member State and Europol shall be transmitted to the Commission by 30 June of the subsequent year. 10. A technical solution shall be made available to Member States in order to manage user access requests referred to in Article 22 and to facilitate the collection of the information under paragraphs 7 and 9 of this Article for the purpose of generating reports and statistics referred to in those paragraphs. The Commission shall adopt implementing acts to lay down the specifications of the technical solution. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 74(2).