Today and tomorrow the Management Board of eu-LISA will hold its working meeting in Strasbourg. The board also welcomes the statement by the Commissioner for the Security Union, Sir Julian King, and visits the operational site of the Agency.
"This is the second time that the board convenes in Strasbourg. We feel very privileged and are grateful that Commissioner King has made time in his busy schedule and honours us with his statement at this meeting," said Krum Garkov, the Executive Director of eu-LISA.
Ahead of the European Commission's proposal to strengthen the mandate of the Agency, the agenda of the meeting includes also an update on the Commission proposal as well as on the renewal of the Agency's long-term strategy.
The speech by Commissioner King to the board focused on the need to further strengthen the existing information systems and their effective management by eu-LISA as well as on the instrumental role of eu-LISA in the development and management of the new systems, currently under discussion by the co-legislators: the Entry/Exit System (EES) for modernised external border management and the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) to gather advance information on visa-free travellers in the EU.
"Both information systems are crucial to enhance the external border management and the security of the Schengen Area," emphasised Commissioner King. He noted also the supplementary proposal, to be launched by the Commission on 29 June, which aims to extend the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS) to third-country nationals and thus improve the exchange of conviction information between Member States. According to the Commissioner "/…/ This is an important step for the Agency to play a role in the entire area of freedom, security and justice and to go beyond its current work on security, borders and migration /…/".
Interoperability of the IT systems is the key element for effective information sharing. The need for swift and secure data sharing has become highly important to fight the ever more complex transnational security threats. Thus, the ability of IT systems to "speak to each other", being the priority for the Commission, was addressed also at the board meeting. Commissioner King emphasised that "/…/ eu-LISA is a crucial actor in the technical work to achieve this (interoperability) /…/ guided by the new approach to the management of data for borders and security/…/".
The Commissioner acknowledged that for interoperability to work eu-LISA needs to be strengthened via the revised mandate enabling the Agency to implement the new approach.
Krum Garkov assured the Commissioner and the board that providing high-quality and efficient services and solutions to its stakeholders will remain the key priority to eu-LISA also under the revised mandate. The role of the Management Board stays highly important to guide the Agency in line with the expectations of the Member States and make the best use of the technical capabilities available in eu-LISA.
Background:
Contacts:
e-mail: press@eulisa.europa.eu
for general information: info@eulisa.europa.eu
