Schengen Information System (SIS) – what is it?
On 14 June 1985 five Member States: Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, Germany and France signed an agreement on gradual abolition of checks at their common borders known as the Schengen Agreement (O.J. L 2000.239.13) which was to realise the principle of freedom to cross internal borders for all nationals of Member States. During the following years next Member States save United Kingdom and Ireland accessed to the Schengen Agreement. Also two states not being Member States (Iceland and Norway) accessed the agreement.
On 19 June 1990 a Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement was signed; this Convention constitutes a basis for establishing the Schengen Information System and facilitates the realisation of principle of freedom of movement by establishing the Schengen Area. The group of states being parties to the Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement has constantly been broadened so finally all the parties to the Schegnen Agreement became the parties to the Convention.
The Schengen Information System (called also the SIS) has been established as a tool compensating the abolition of checks on the internal borders of the Schengen Area states. Its nature consists in ensuring that each state being a party to the Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement had the same set of information allowing for access, by the means of an automated search procedure, to alerts on persons and property for purposes of border checks and other police and custom checks carried out within the country and for the purposes of issuing visas, residence permits and the administration of legislation on aliens in context of the application of the provisions of the Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement. The above said requirement has been realised by introduction of a special structure of the system consisting in establishment of the technical support function (the C-SIS) located in Strasbourg and national sections (the N-SIS) which pursuant to the Article 92 (2) of the Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement operate in each state being a party to the Schengen Convention.
It needs to be noted that it is forbidden to search the data files of other parties to the Schengen Convention. In fact such need does not exist since the Convention states that the data files held by each national section were materially identical to the data files of the national sections of each of the other parties to the Convention. Such state was obtained with the assistance of the said technical support function. Each entry of a new alert as well as any correction or deletion of existing alerts results in alternation of the content of central data file (data file kept in the technical support function) and subsequently causes an update of data files kept in national sections of other parties to the Convention.
More information relating to the Schengen Information System may be found on the website of the Schengen Joint Supervisory Authority: http://www.schengen-jsa.dataprotection.org/ and on the following URL http://europa.eu.int/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/l33020.htm.
On 19 June 1990 a Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement was signed; this Convention constitutes a basis for establishing the Schengen Information System and facilitates the realisation of principle of freedom of movement by establishing the Schengen Area. The group of states being parties to the Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement has constantly been broadened so finally all the parties to the Schegnen Agreement became the parties to the Convention.
The Schengen Information System (called also the SIS) has been established as a tool compensating the abolition of checks on the internal borders of the Schengen Area states. Its nature consists in ensuring that each state being a party to the Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement had the same set of information allowing for access, by the means of an automated search procedure, to alerts on persons and property for purposes of border checks and other police and custom checks carried out within the country and for the purposes of issuing visas, residence permits and the administration of legislation on aliens in context of the application of the provisions of the Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement. The above said requirement has been realised by introduction of a special structure of the system consisting in establishment of the technical support function (the C-SIS) located in Strasbourg and national sections (the N-SIS) which pursuant to the Article 92 (2) of the Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement operate in each state being a party to the Schengen Convention.
It needs to be noted that it is forbidden to search the data files of other parties to the Schengen Convention. In fact such need does not exist since the Convention states that the data files held by each national section were materially identical to the data files of the national sections of each of the other parties to the Convention. Such state was obtained with the assistance of the said technical support function. Each entry of a new alert as well as any correction or deletion of existing alerts results in alternation of the content of central data file (data file kept in the technical support function) and subsequently causes an update of data files kept in national sections of other parties to the Convention.
More information relating to the Schengen Information System may be found on the website of the Schengen Joint Supervisory Authority: http://www.schengen-jsa.dataprotection.org/ and on the following URL http://europa.eu.int/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/l33020.htm.


