Schengen Information System: Parliament wants its implementation without further delay.

In an enlarged Europe with 27 Member States we need to reinforce security. SIS II will provide more rigour in border controls, improve biometric data and allow a more efficient use of data through their possible interconnections.

The European Parliament today endorsed the establishment of the Schengen Information System II by adopting Carlos Coelho's Reports on the migration to a Second Generation of the Schengen Information System, the so-called SIS II, with an overwhelming majority of votes. SIS II will end the intergovernmental character of its management and will represent an enormous improvement in terms of security, with higher performance, new functionalities, and new types of data.

With the SIS II, individual rights will be better and more rigorously protected. Data protection rules will be improved in order to avoid errors such as unjustified arrests or refusals at borders.

"Given the political importance of this dossier, and given its considerable budgetary implications, the Parliament, despite regretting the fact that it has only been consulted, but in order to avoid further delays, adopted the proposals, proposing amendments aimed at reinforcing the rules related to data protection, ensuring efficient supervision and allowing Member States to go on using the 2012 budget line if they need to", said the Rapporteur Carlos Coelho MEP.

The migration is scheduled to start in January 2013 and SIS II is foreseen to be operational from April onwards. But now there is a further delay in the system that was supposed to have been working in 2007!

Portuguese MEP Carlos Coelho calls on the Member States, and in particular Finland, to assume their responsibilities in this process and prevent further delays in SIS II, asking the Council and Commission what they intend to do to overcome this setback, so that SIS II can come into force as soon as possible.