Schengen: second generation information system SIS II, development. Initiative Belgium and Sweden

PURPOSE : to adopt a Council Regulation on the development of the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II). (Belgian and Swedish initiative). CONTENT : in order to ensure the realisation of the objectives of the Community with regard to the free movement of persons in the absence of controls when crossing internal borders and the exercise of controls at external borders over the entry of third country nationals into the Community, it is necessary for the Member States to have in place a joint information system enabling the authorities designated by them to have access, by means of an automated search procedure, to alerts on third country nationals for the purpose of checks to be carried out at external borders and elsewhere within their territory, and for the purpose of examining visa applications and applications for residence permits. The Schengen Information System in its current form has the capacity to service no more than 18 participating States. It is at present operational for all 13 Member States and 2 other States (Iceland and Norway) and is intended to become operational for the United Kingdom and Ireland in the foreseeable future. It has, however, not been constructed so as to service the increased number of Member States of the European Union after its enlargement. For this reason, and in order to benefit from the latest developments in the field of information technology and to allow for the introduction of new functions, it is necessary to develop a new, second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II).�