Today, 16^th March 2023, Agnès Diallo, the new Executive Director of eu-LISA takes office. Ms Diallo was appointed by the Agency's Management Board in its decision of January 12^th 2023.

"I am honored and thrilled to begin my journey with eu-LISA. The Agency's role is crucial to improve freedom, security and justice within the Union through better and more resilient information systems, that serve the needs of citizens in a safe and attractive Europe.

I feel privileged to be joining the professional eu-LISA teams and very much look forward to working closely with them. I am particularly enthused by our road together towards building eu-LISA's next chapter, tackling current challenges and leveraging the many exciting opportunities ahead.

I would also like to express my sincere thanks to the Deputy Executive Director, Luca Tagliaretti, for his work as Interim Executive Director over the past months, and to the entire management team for supporting him through this period.

I am confident that together, as one eu-LISA, we will continue to successfully raise the bar, building upon eu-LISA's amazing track record, to ever better achieve the Agency's missions" said Agnès Diallo, Executive Director of eu-LISA.

Ms Diallo has over 20 years of experience, supporting government level institutions and private sector organisations in France and across Europe on their most pressing operational and technological challenges. A seasoned large-scale IT systems professional with a proven track record, she has led the development and management of numerous reference European IT systems, fully compliant with GDPR and cyber-security imperatives.

From 2019, as an Executive Vice-President and a member of the Executive Committee at IN Groupe, a European leader in digital identity solutions, she was responsible for Business Performance and Strategy. Prior to that, she was General Manager for Digital Services. She has also held a number of senior management positions with global IT company ATOS and was an Associate Principal with McKinsey & Company for many years.

Ms Diallo holds a degree in Political Science from the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris, a master's degree in Business Administration from Essec Business School and a master's degree in Public Administration from Harvard University.

eu-LISA's governance structure

eu-LISA's governance structure comprises a Management Board, an Executive Director and Advisory Groups. The Management Board is composed of representatives of EU Member States, Schengen Associated Countries and the European Commission. Eurojust, Europol, Frontex and the EPPO are also represented on the board. The role of the Management Board is to ensure that the Agency delivers tasks and results as stipulated in the Agency's establishing regulation in the most cost-effective way, taking into account the strategic goals and objectives of the Agency. The Advisory Groups are composed of experts from EU Member States, Schengen Associated Countries, the European Commission and other EU Institutions. Their role is to provide their respective Programme Management Board (PMB), and the eu-LISA Management Board, with technical expertise and advice regarding the evolution and further development of eu-LISA's large-scale IT systems.

eu-LISA currently employs 325 staff, who are divided into departments, units and sectors, mainly working out of the headquarters in Tallinn and the operational site in Strasbourg.

Background 

The European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (eu-LISA) was established in 2011 in order to provide a long-term solution for the EU internal security and to support the implementation of asylum, migration and border management policies. The Agency's revised establishing Regulation entered into force on 11 December 2018, expanding eu-LISA's mandate to further improve, design and develop information systems in the area of internal security, border management and judicial cooperation. The revised mandate also broadened the Agency's scope of work on research, innovation, testing, enabling the possibility to support the delivery of pilot projects and proofs of concept.

Currently, eu-LISA manages the Schengen Information System (SIS), the Visa Information System (VIS) and the European Asylum Dactyloscopy Database (Eurodac). These systems are the cornerstones of the smooth functioning of the Schengen Area. At the EU's external borders, they are critical for ensuring the efficiency of border management, and the implementation of the EU's common asylum, migration and visa policies. Within the Schengen Area, ensuring continuous availability of the EU's JHA information systems is essential for guaranteeing the freedom of movement of EU citizens and residents, while also supporting internal security across the Union.

Under its expanded mandate, eu-LISA is also developing the Entry/Exit System (EES), the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), the centralised system for the identification of Member States holding conviction information on third-country nationals and stateless persons (ECRIS-TCN), and new components that will make up the interoperability architecture of the JHA information systems under eu-LISA's purview.

The latest addition to eu-LISA portfolio, e-CODEX, is a decentralised IT system that provides a secure solution for cross-border exchange of judiciary data, thus allowing all Member States to use a single interface to communicate with each other. Once fully integrated into the Agency's portfolio, e-CODEX will be a key building block in the further digitalisation of the justice domain.

The headquarters of eu-LISA are located in Tallinn, Estonia, whilst its operational centre is in Strasbourg, France. There is also a technical business continuity site based in Sankt Johann im Pongau, Austria and a Liaison Office in Brussels, Belgium.

This Press Release is also available in Estonian, French and German.

​Today, the upgraded Schengen Information System (SIS) enters into operation. SIS is the largest information sharing system for security and border management in Europe. It provides information on wanted or missing persons, third-country nationals with no legal right to stay in the Union and lost or stolen objects (for example cars, firearms, boats and identity documents).

The renewed SIS is the foundation of the most advanced border management system in the world that we are building. Together with the Entry/Exit System (EES) and the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), SIS will be part of the interoperability architecture. 

The renewed SIS is being enhanced to include new categories of alerts, biometrics such as palm prints, fingermarks, and DNA records for missing persons, and additional tools to combat crime and terrorism. The upgrade is important as it will also allow for preventive alerts to protect vulnerable persons and deter irregular migration. These upgrades aim to provide national authorities with more complete and reliable information to enhance security and border management in Europe.

The upgraded features include:

• Enhanced information sharing and cooperation: New categories of alerts and more data will be shared through SIS, ensuring that more complete and more reliable information is available to the national authorities. Clearer rules and improved structures have been introduced for the exchange of information through the national contact points (SIRENE Offices).
• New possibilities to locate and identify persons sought and strengthen external border controls: In addition to photographs and fingerprints, SIS will contain new types of biometrics (such as palm prints, fingermarks and palmmarks, as well as DNA records – but only in relation to missing persons) and other information to locate and identify people registered in the system.
• Additional tools to combat criminality and terrorism: New inquiry check alerts will allow national authorities to collect targeted information on suspects of serious crime or terrorism. For example, identification documents, information about the car that they are using will be stored in SIS. There will be alerts on “unknown wanted persons”, containing only the prints of unknown perpetrators that are discovered at the scenes of terrorist offences or serious crimes.
• Additional tools to protect missing and vulnerable persons: National authorities will be able to issue preventive alerts in the system to protect certain categories of vulnerable persons (children at risk of abduction or potential victims of terrorism, trafficking in human beings, gender-based violence, or armed conflict/hostilities), in addition to existing alerts on missing persons.
• Additional tools to prevent and deter irregular migration: Return decisions will be part of the information shared in the system to improve the effective enforcement of these decisions. Member States will be required to create an alert in SIS each time they issue a return decision on a third-country national with no legal right to stay in the EU, allowing them to actively follow up whether the returnee effectively leaves the EU territory. It will pave the way for mutual recognition of return decisions between Member States, as proposed by President von der Leyen in her letter with targeted actions ahead of the February European Council.  
• Enhanced use of SIS by EU Agencies: Europol and national immigration authorities now have access to all alert categories in SIS. The European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) operational teams have been granted access to SIS (implementation is still ongoing).

SIS has strict requirements on data quality and data protection. The system only contains data on people and objects wanted in EU countries and Schengen associated countries. National authorities supervise the application of the data protection rules in their respective countries, while the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) monitors how the data protection rules are being applied in the central system managed by eu-LISA.

Next Steps

As of today, the renewed SIS is operational in 30 countries throughout Europe (26 EU Member States and the Schengen associated countries). The connection of Cyprus to SIS in summer 2023 will further extend security cooperation throughout the entire Union.

Background

SIS was created in 1995 following the abolition of internal border controls in the EU. The 2016 evaluation of SIS confirmed the outstanding success of the system. But it also identified opportunities to further enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of SIS, to better tackle increasingly complex security challenges.

The Commission tabled three proposals to strengthen cooperation between the Member States making use of the Schengen Information System (SIS) on 21 December 2016. On 12 June 2018, the co-legislators, the European Parliament and the Council reached political agreement on all three proposals. The three agreed Regulations (available here, here and here) were adopted on 28 November 2018.

The legal and technical preparations for the implementation of the new SIS started in 2019 and continued until 2021. During 2022, the national and central systems were thoroughly checked in close cooperation between eu-LISA (the EU agency in charge of the operation of the central competent of SIS) and the Member States (in charge of the national components of SIS). The legal conditions for the start of operation were completed in January 2023 and on 31 January 2023, the decision of the start of operation was published by the Commission.

Source:
European Commission - Security Union: The renewed Schengen Information Systems enters into operation

Further Readings

• Enhanced SIS Successfully Launched