PURPOSE: to create an agency at European Union level responsible for the operational management and, where appropriate, the development of large-scale information systems within the area of freedom, security and justice (extending the mandate of eu-LISA).
PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.
BACKGROUND: the eu-LISA Agency - established by Regulation (EU) No 1077/2011, amended in 2015 by Regulation (EU) No 603/2013 - currently manages the Visa Information System (VIS), second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) and Eurodac (for the comparison of fingerprints).
The first evaluation of the Agency's work, carried out in 2015-2016 on the basis of an independent external evaluation, concluded that the eu-LISA agency effectively carried out the operational management of large-scale IT systems as well as the other tasks entrusted to it, but also that a number of amendments to its establishing Regulation were necessary.
In the light of this assessment, the Commission proposes to extend the mandate of the eu-LISA agency by entrusting it to:
- provide technical solutions needed to ensure interoperability between large-scale IT systems;
- develop and manage the future large-scale IT systems of the EU.
The proposal follows on from the Commission Communication of 6 April 2016 entitled 'Stronger and smarter information systems for borders and security', the High Level Expert Group's final report of 11 May 2017 and in the Commission's Seventh progress report towards an effective and genuine Security Union of 16 May 2017.
IMPACT ASSESSMENT: the proposal is based to a large extent on the results and recommendations of the independent external evaluation report of the Agency’s work. No impact assessment was carried out since the evaluation concluded that the amendments are essentially technical in nature.
CONTENT: the aim of this proposal is to review the Regulation establishing the eu-LISA Agency in order to adapt it to the recommendations for legislative amendments stemming from the evaluation, as well as to improve the functioning of the Agency and enhance and strengthen its role to ensure that its mandate meets current challenges at EU level in the area of freedom, security and justice.
The tasks of the new eu-LISA agency would be as follows:
- Ensuring the centralised operational management of EU information systems: subject to the adoption of legislative instruments proposed by the Commission, eu-LISA would also be responsible for the preparation, development and operational management of the Entry/Exit System (EES), DubliNet, the European Travel Authorisation System (ETIAS), the automated system for registration, monitoring and the allocation mechanism for applications for international protection and the ECRIS-TCN system.
- Developing the necessary actions to enable interoperability: the Agency shall be tasked with the development of a European Search Portal, a shared biometric matching service and a Common Identity Repository, subject to the adoption of the relevant legislative instrument on interoperability. Where relevant, any actions carried out on interoperability should have to be guided by the Commission Communication on the European interoperability framework – implementation strategy.
- Ensuring data quality: subject to the adoption of specific legislative amendments/proposals, the proposal entrusts the Agency with the task of setting up automated data quality control mechanisms and common data quality indicators, as well as developing a central repository for reporting and statistics. The purpose of such mechanisms would be to enable central systems to automatically identify apparently incorrect or inconsistent data submissions so that the originating Member State is able to verify the data and carry out any necessary remedial actions.
- Providing assistance to Member States and the Commission: the Agency may provide advice and/or assistance to the Commission on technical matters relating to existing or new systems, including through studies and testing. It could be responsible for developing, managing or hosting a common IT system by a group of at least six Member States voluntarily opting for a centralised solution.
The proposal also specifies the tasks to be entrusted to the Management Board and to the Executive Director, whose mandate may be extended for a period not exceeding five years, in accordance with the Common Approach on decentralised agencies.
BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS: for the Agency to adequately address its new tasks, from 2018 to 2020 an amount of EUR 78.354 million will need to be added to the Agency's Union subsidy. This amount does not include the budget required for the new systems which is foreseen under the relevant legislative proposals nor that required for the proposals amending existing systems.