9 May (BNS)

eu-LISA, the European Union Agency for Large-scale IT Systems in the area of Freedom, Security and Justice based in the Estonian capital Tallinn, will on Thursday take over operational management of the second-generation Schengen information system (SIS II).

The new security information system facilitates information sharing between member states’ authorities, spokespeople for the agency said. SIS II went live on 9 April but so far the European Commission was responsible for its day-to-day running.

Starting from 9 May, eu-LISA will ensure the round-the-clock functioning of SIS II and data exchanges between the central system and national systems, creating better opportunities for co-operation and exchange of information between EU member states and thus directly contributing to the safety of the people living and travelling in Europe, executive director of the agency Krum Garkov said.

The SIS II allows for an easy exchange of information between national border control authorities, customs and police authorities on persons who may have been involved in a serious crime. It also contains alerts on missing persons, in particular children, as well as information on certain property, such as banknotes, cars, vans, firearms and identity documents that may have been stolen, misappropriated or lost.

The SIS II consists of a central information system in Strasbourg, France, national systems of EU member states that have joined the Schengen area and a communication infrastructure connecting the central and national systems. As of today, the SIS II contains more than 47 million alerts which makes it the largest information system of its kind in the world.

eu-LISA started operations in Tallinn in December 2012. It is responsible for managing the SIS II, the visa information system VIS and the fingerprint database EURODAC.