Connect with us

EU

#SecurityUnion - Reinforced Schengen system with terrorist alerts comes into force

SHARE:

Published

on

We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. You can unsubscribe at any time.

New rules to strengthen the Schengen Information System (SIS) – proposed by the Commission in December 2016 and adopted earlier this year – are entering into force today (28 December). The SIS is Europe's most widely used information sharing system for security and border management. Consulted over 5 billion times by national authorities in 2017, the upgraded database will help border guards to better monitor who is crossing the EU's borders; support police and law enforcement in capturing dangerous criminals and terrorists; and offer greater protection for missing children and vulnerable adults, in line with the new data protection rules.

Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Commissioner Avramopoulos said: "We are closing a critical security gap today in the EU. Member states will have an obligation to introduce terrorism alerts into the reinforced Schengen Information System. Anyone posing a threat should not go unnoticed anymore: the interoperability of SIS with our other information systems on security, borders and migration in the near future will make sure that all the dots are properly connected on our radar screens.”

Security Union Commissioner Julian King said: “The SIS is a key tool for security in the EU, allowing national authorities to catch criminals and terrorists all over Europe. The new obligation to create SIS alerts will help make Europe safer - especially when it comes to tackling terrorism - as part of our wider efforts to strengthen information sharing and make our information systems work together more effectively.”

As of today (28 December), new rules on alerts related to terrorism apply:

  • Greater vigilance for terrorist offences: As of today, national authorities are obliged to create a SIS alert for all cases related to terrorist offences. By the end of 2019, member states will also have to inform Europol of hits alerts linked to terrorism, which will help to connect the dots at the European level.

Share this article:

EU Reporter publishes articles from a variety of outside sources which express a wide range of viewpoints. The positions taken in these articles are not necessarily those of EU Reporter.

Trending