National competent authorities having a right to access data in SIS
1. National competent authorities responsible for the identification of third-country nationals shall have access to data entered in SIS and the right to search such data directly or in a copy of the SIS database for the purposes of:
(a)
border control, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/399;
(b)
police and customs checks carried out within the Member State concerned, and the coordination of such checks by designated authorities;
(c)
the prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution of terrorist offences or other serious criminal offences or the execution of criminal penalties, within the Member State concerned, provided that Directive (EU) 2016/680 applies;
(d)
examining the conditions and taking decisions related to the entry and stay of third-country nationals on the territory of the Member States, including on residence permits and long-stay visas, and to the return of third-country nationals, as well as carrying out checks on third-country nationals who are illegally entering or staying on the territory of the Member States;
(e)
security checks on third-country nationals who apply for international protection, insofar as authorities performing the checks are not ‘determining authorities’ as defined in point (f) of Article 2 of Directive 2013/32/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 35 ) , and, where relevant, providing advice in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 377/2004 ( 36 ) ;
(f)
examining visa applications and taking decisions related to those applications including on whether to annul, revoke or extend visas, in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 37 ) .
2. The right to access data in SIS and the right to search such data directly may be exercised by national competent authorities responsible for naturalisation, as provided for in national law, for the purposes of examining an application for naturalisation.
3. For the purposes of Articles 24 and 25 the right to access data in SIS and the right to search such data directly may also be exercised by national judicial authorities, including those responsible for the initiation of public prosecutions in criminal proceedings and for judicial inquiries prior to charging a person, in the performance of their tasks, as provided for in national law, and by their coordinating authorities.
4. The right to access data concerning documents relating to persons entered in accordance with Article 38(2)(k) and (l) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1862 and the right to search such data may also be exercised by the authorities referred to in point (f) of paragraph 1 of this Article.
5. The competent authorities referred to in this Article shall be included in the list referred to in Article 41(8).
Access to data in SIS by Europol
1. The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol), established by Regulation (EU) 2016/794, shall, where necessary to fulfil its mandate, have the right to access and search data in SIS. Europol may also exchange and further request supplementary information in accordance with the provisions of the SIRENE Manual.
2. Where a search by Europol reveals the existence of an alert in SIS, Europol shall inform the issuing Member State through the exchange of supplementary information by means of the Communication Infrastructure and in accordance with the provisions set out in the SIRENE Manual. Until Europol is able to use the functionalities intended for the exchange of supplementary information, it shall inform issuing Member States through the channels defined by Regulation (EU) 2016/794.
3. Europol may process the supplementary information that has been provided to it by Member States for the purposes of comparing it with its databases and operational analysis projects, aimed at identifying connections or other relevant links and for the strategic, thematic or operational analyses referred to in points (a), (b) and (c) of Article 18(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/794. Any processing by Europol of supplementary information for the purpose of this Article shall be carried out in accordance with that Regulation.
4. Europol's use of information obtained from a search in SIS or from the processing of supplementary information shall be subject to the consent of the issuing Member State. If the Member State allows the use of such information, its handling by Europol shall be governed by Regulation (EU) 2016/794. Europol shall only communicate such information to third countries and third bodies with the consent of the issuing Member State and in full compliance with Union law on data protection.
5. Europol shall:
(a)
without prejudice to paragraphs 4 and 6, not connect parts of SIS nor transfer the data contained in it to which it has access to any system for data collection and processing operated by or at Europol, nor download or otherwise copy any part of SIS;
(b)
notwithstanding Article 31(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/794, delete supplementary information containing personal data at the latest one year after the related alert has been deleted. By way of derogation, where Europol has information in its databases or operational analysis projects on a case to which the supplementary information is related, in order for Europol to perform its tasks, Europol may exceptionally continue to store the supplementary information when necessary. Europol shall inform the issuing and the executing Member State of the continued storage of such supplementary information and present a justification for it;
(c)
limit access to data in SIS, including supplementary information, to specifically authorised staff of Europol who require access to such data for the performance of their tasks;
(d)
adopt and apply measures to ensure security, confidentiality and self-monitoring in accordance with Articles 10, 11 and 13;
(e)
ensure that its staff who are authorised to process SIS data receive appropriate training and information in accordance with Article 14(1); and
(f)
without prejudice to Regulation (EU) 2016/794, allow the European Data Protection Supervisor to monitor and review the activities of Europol in the exercise of its right to access and search data in SIS and in the exchange and processing of supplementary information.
6. Europol shall only copy data from SIS for technical purposes where such copying is necessary in order for duly authorised Europol staff to carry out a direct search. This Regulation shall apply to such copies. The technical copy shall only be used for the purpose of storing SIS data whilst those data are searched. Once the data have been searched they shall be deleted. Such uses shall not be considered to be unlawful downloading or copying of SIS data. Europol shall not copy alert data or additional data issued by Member States or from CS-SIS into other Europol systems.
7. For the purpose of verifying the lawfulness of data processing, self-monitoring and ensuring proper data security and integrity, Europol shall keep logs of every access to and search in SIS in accordance with the provisions of Article 12. Such logs and documentation shall not be considered to be unlawful downloading or copying of part of SIS.
8. Member States shall inform Europol through the exchange of supplementary information of any hit on alerts related to terrorist offences. Member States may exceptionally not inform Europol if doing so would jeopardise current investigations, the safety of an individual or be contrary to essential interests of the security of the issuing Member State.
9. Paragraph 8 shall apply from the date that Europol is able to receive supplementary information in accordance with paragraph 1.
Access to data in SIS by the European Border and Coast Guard teams, teams of staff involved in return-related tasks, and members of the migration management support teams
1. In accordance with Article 40(8) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1624, the members of the teams referred to in points (8) and (9) of Article 2 of that Regulation shall, within their mandate and provided that they are authorised to carry out checks in accordance with Article 34(1) of this Regulation and have received the required training in accordance with Article 14(1) of this Regulation, have the right to access and search data in SIS insofar it is necessary for the performance of their task and as required by the operational plan for a specific operation. Access to data in SIS shall not be extended to any other team members.
2. Members of the teams referred to in paragraph 1 shall exercise the right to access and search data in SIS in accordance with paragraph 1 through a technical interface. The technical interface shall be set up and maintained by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency and shall allow direct connection to Central SIS.
3. Where a search by a member of the teams referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article reveals the existence of an alert in SIS, the issuing Member State shall be informed thereof. In accordance with Article 40 of Regulation (EU) 2016/1624, members of the teams shall only act in response to an alert in SIS under instructions from and, as a general rule, in the presence of border guards or staff involved in return-related tasks of the host Member State in which they are operating. The host Member State may authorise members of the teams to act on its behalf.
4. For the purpose of verifying the lawfulness of data processing, self-monitoring and ensuring proper data security and integrity, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency shall keep logs of every access to and search in SIS in accordance with the provisions of Article 12.
5. The European Border and Coast Guard Agency shall adopt and apply measures to ensure security, confidentiality and self-monitoring in accordance with Articles 10, 11 and 13 and shall ensure that the teams referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article apply those measures.
6. Nothing in this Article shall be interpreted as affecting the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2016/1624 concerning data protection or the European Border and Coast Guard Agency's liability for any unauthorised or incorrect processing of data by it.
7. Without prejudice to paragraph 2, no parts of SIS shall be connected to any system for data collection and processing operated by the teams referred to in paragraph 1 or by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, nor shall the data in SIS to which those teams have access be transferred to such a system. No part of SIS shall be downloaded or copied. The logging of access and searches shall not be considered to be unlawful downloading or copying of SIS data.
8. The European Border and Coast Guard Agency shall allow the European Data Protection Supervisor to monitor and review the activities of the teams referred to in this Article in the exercise of their right to access and search data in SIS. This shall be without prejudice to the further provisions of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725.
Evaluation of the use of SIS by Europol and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency
1. The Commission shall carry out an evaluation of the operation and the use of SIS by Europol and the teams referred to in Article 36(1) at least every five years.
2. Europol and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency shall ensure adequate follow-up to the findings and recommendations stemming from the evaluation.
3. A report on the results of the evaluation and follow-up to it shall be sent to the European Parliament and to the Council.
Scope of access
End-users, including Europol and the members of the teams referred to in points (8) and (9) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2016/1624, shall only access data which they require for the performance of their tasks.
Review period for alerts
1. Alerts shall be kept only for the time required to achieve the purposes for which they were entered.
2. An issuing Member State shall, within three years of the entry of an alert into SIS, review the need to retain it. However, if the national decision on which the alert is based provides for a longer period of validity than three years, the alert shall be reviewed within five years.
3. Each Member State shall, where appropriate, set shorter review periods in accordance with its national law.
4. Within the review period, the issuing Member State may, following a comprehensive individual assessment, which shall be recorded, decide to retain the alert for longer than the review period, where this proves necessary and proportionate for the purposes for which the alert was entered. In such a case, paragraph 2 shall also apply to the extension. Any such extension shall be communicated to CS-SIS.
5. Alerts shall be deleted automatically after the review period referred to in paragraph 2 has expired except where the issuing Member State has informed CS-SIS of an extension pursuant to paragraph 4. CS-SIS shall automatically inform the issuing Member State of the scheduled deletion of data four months in advance.
6. Member States shall keep statistics on the number of alerts the retention periods of which have been extended in accordance with paragraph 4 of this Article and transmit them, upon request, to the supervisory authorities referred to in Article 55.
7. As soon as it becomes clear to a SIRENE Bureau that an alert has achieved its purpose and should therefore be deleted, it shall immediately notify the authority which created the alert. The authority shall have 15 calendar days from the receipt of that notification to reply that the alert has been or shall be deleted or shall state reasons for the retention of the alert. If no reply has been received by the end of the 15-day period, the SIRENE Bureau shall ensure that the alert is deleted. Where permissible under national law, the alert shall be deleted by the SIRENE Bureau. SIRENE Bureaux shall report any recurring issues they encounter when acting under this paragraph to their supervisory authority.
Deletion of alerts
1. Alerts for refusal of entry and stay pursuant to Article 24 shall be deleted:
(a)
when the decision on the basis of which the alert was entered has been withdrawn or annulled by the competent authority; or
(b)
where applicable, following the consultation procedure referred to in Article 27 and Article 29.
2. Alerts on third-country nationals who are the subject of a restrictive measure intended to prevent entry into or transit through the territory of Member States shall be deleted when the restrictive measure has been terminated, suspended or annulled.
3. Alerts on a person who has acquired citizenship of a Member State or of any State whose nationals are beneficiaries of the right of free movement under Union law shall be deleted as soon as the issuing Member State becomes aware, or is so informed pursuant to Article 44 that the person in question has acquired such citizenship.
4. Alerts shall be deleted upon expiry of the alert in accordance with Article 39.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
