On 9 November 2018, the European Council adopted the Commission's proposal to strengthen eu-LISA's mandate, thus ensuring EU information systems for migration, security and border management are more interoperable and will help close important security gaps.
"From today onwards, the eu-LISA Agency will be transformed into an even stronger nerve centre of all our information systems for borders, migration and security. Information is a powerful tool and the stronger Agency will help to make sure that immigration officers, border guards and law enforcement authorities have the right information, at the right time. It will help us connect all the dots towards an effective and genuine Security Union", said Dimitris Avramopoulos, the Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship.
Commissioner for the Security Union, Julian King, added that strengthening eu-LISA is an essential step forward to make our information systems more interoperable.
Krum Garkov, Executive Director of eu-LISA, said "This is an important day for the Agency. There are many steps to be taken in order to use current and future IT systems to their maximum potential in order to make Europe a safer place to live and work. This strengthened mandate now gives eu-LISA the legislative tools to grow and evolve into a centre of excellence and better serve Europe as a whole."
Following the adoption, the Agency to take on more tasks and provide centralised operational management of EU information systems for migration, security and border management. The reinforced eu-LISA will:
- Roll-out interoperability of EU information systems: once the Commission proposals are adopted, eu-LISA will be responsible for rolling out the technical components to make EU information systems interoperable;
- Develop future systems: with a proposed budget of €2 billion for the period 2019-2027, the Agency will develop and manage future large-scale EU information systems such as the Entry/Exit System (EES), the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) and the upgraded European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS-TCN);
- Upgrade existing systems: the Agency will maintain and upgrade existing systems, such as the Schengen Information System (SIS), the Visa Information System (VIS) and Eurodac, for which it is already responsible;
- Support Member States: the Agency will be able to provide greater ad-hoc technical and operational support to Member States.
Next steps
The proposal adopted by the Council today, and which had been voted upon by the European Parliament on 5 July 2018, will now be signed jointly by the President of the European Parliament and the Austrian Presidency of the Council. The text will then be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and it will enter into force 20 days later.
Further reading:
Full EC Press Release
