Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the Development of the Second Generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) – Progress Report July 2008 – December 2008

Summary:

This progress report describes the work carried out by the Commission in the second semester of 2008 on the development of the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II). It is presented to the Council and the European Parliament in accordance with Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 2424/2001 of 6 December 2001 [1] on the development of the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II). This report also constitutes a test status report as foreseen by Council Regulation (EC) No 189/2008 and Council Decision 2008/173/EC on the tests of the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II).

The SIS II Project is divided into three phases. Phase 1 was concerned with system design and was completed prior to this reporting period. Phase 2 deals with development and testing of the central system which has been problematic during this reporting period. Phase 3 addresses final test and migration activities from the currently used SIS 1+ to SIS II. In order to provide a complete picture of the range of activities associated with the SIS II project, this report will describe real and potential risks and the actions taken or envisaged in each of the areas covered by the report. Additionally there are specific sections on financial, operational and project management.