Implementation by the Commission
1. The central VIS, the national interface in each Member State and the communication infrastructure between the central VIS and the national interfaces shall be implemented by the Commission as soon as possible after the entry into force of this Regulation, including the functionalities for processing the biometric data referred to in Article 5(1)(c).
2. The measures necessary for the technical implementation of the central VIS, the national interfaces and the communication infrastructure between the central VIS and the national interfaces shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 49(2), in particular:
(a)
for entering the data and linking applications in accordance with Article 8;
(b)
for accessing the data in accordance with Article 15 and Articles 17 to 22;
(c)
for amending, deleting and advance deleting of data in accordance with Articles 23 to 25;
(d)
for keeping and accessing the records in accordance with Article 34;
(e)
for the consultation mechanism and the procedures referred to in Article 16.
Integration of the technical functionalities of the Schengen Consultation Network
The consultation mechanism referred to in Article 16 shall replace the Schengen Consultation Network from the date determined in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 49(3) when all those Member States which use the Schengen Consultation Network at the date of entry into force of this Regulation have notified the legal and technical arrangements for the use of the VIS for the purpose of consultation between central visa authorities on visa applications according to Article 17(2) of the Schengen Convention.
Start of transmission
Each Member State shall notify the Commission that it has made the necessary technical and legal arrangements to transmit the data referred to in Article 5(1) to the central VIS via the national interface.
Start of operations
1. The Commission shall determine the date from which the VIS is to start operations, when:
(a)
the measures referred to in Article 45(2) have been adopted;
(b)
the Commission has declared the successful completion of a comprehensive test of the VIS, which shall be conducted by the Commission together with Member States;
(c)
following validation of technical arrangements, the Member States have notified the Commission that they have made the necessary technical and legal arrangements to collect and transmit the data referred to in Article 5(1) to the VIS for all applications in the first region determined according to paragraph 4, including arrangements for the collection and/or transmission of the data on behalf of another Member State.
2. The Commission shall inform the European Parliament of the results of the test carried out in accordance with paragraph 1(b).
3. In every other region, the Commission shall determine the date from which the transmission of the data in Article 5(1) becomes mandatory when Member States have notified the Commission that they have made the necessary technical and legal arrangements to collect and transmit the data referred to in Article 5(1) to the VIS for all applications in the region concerned, including arrangements for the collection and/or transmission of the data on behalf of another Member State. Before that date, each Member State may start operations in any of these regions, as soon as it has notified to the Commission that it has made the necessary technical and legal arrangements to collect and transmit at least the data referred to in Article 5(1)(a) and (b) to the VIS.
4. The regions referred to in paragraphs 1 and 3 shall be determined in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 49(3). The criteria for the determination of these regions shall be the risk of illegal immigration, threats to the internal security of the Member States and the feasibility of collecting biometrics from all locations in this region.
5. The Commission shall publish the dates for the start of operations in each region in the Official Journal of the European Union .
6. No Member State shall consult the data transmitted by other Member States to the VIS before it or another Member State representing this Member State starts entering data in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 3.
Committee
1. The Commission shall be assisted by the committee set up by Article 51(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1987/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 on the establishment, operation and use of the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) ( 25 ) .
2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 4 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply.
The period laid down in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be two months.
3. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply.
The period laid down in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be two months.
Monitoring and evaluation
1. The Management Authority shall ensure that procedures are in place to monitor the functioning of the VIS against objectives relating to output, cost-effectiveness, security and quality of service.
2. For the purposes of technical maintenance, the Management Authority shall have access to the necessary information relating to the processing operations performed in the VIS.
3. Two years after the VIS is brought into operation and every two years thereafter, the Management Authority shall submit to the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission a report on the technical functioning of the VIS, including the security thereof.
4. Three years after the VIS is brought into operation and every four years thereafter, the Commission shall produce an overall evaluation of the VIS. This overall evaluation shall include an examination of results achieved against objectives and an assessment of the continuing validity of the underlying rationale, the application of this Regulation in respect of the VIS, the security of the VIS, the use made of the provisions referred to in Article 31 and any implications for future operations. The Commission shall transmit the evaluation to the European Parliament and the Council.
5. Before the end of the periods referred to in Article 18(2) the Commission shall report on the technical progress made regarding the use of fingerprints at external borders and its implications for the duration of searches using the number of the visa sticker in combination with verification of the fingerprints of the visa holder, including whether the expected duration of such a search entails excessive waiting time at border crossing points. The Commission shall transmit the evaluation to the European Parliament and the Council. On the basis of that evaluation, the European Parliament or the Council may invite the Commission to propose, if necessary, appropriate amendments to this Regulation.
6. Member States shall provide the Management Authority and the Commission with the information necessary to draft the reports referred to in paragraph 3, 4 and 5.
7. The Management Authority shall provide the Commission with the information necessary to produce the overall evaluations referred to in paragraph 4.
8. During the transitional period before the Management Authority takes up its responsibilities, the Commission shall be responsible for producing and submitting the reports referred to in paragraph 3.
Entry into force and application
1. This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .
2. It shall apply from the date referred to in Article 48(1).
3. Articles 26, 27, 32, 45, 48(1), (2) and (4) and Article 49 shall apply as from 2 September 2008.
4. During the transitional period referred to in Article 26(4), references in this Regulation to the Management Authority shall be construed as references to the Commission.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
