Digital Newsletter • December 2021 • Index
The eu-LISA Bits & Bytes provides an overview of the Agency's recent progress and the state-of-play on the development and management of the large-scale IT systems that govern the Schengen Area's internal security.
In this issue:
… and more.
eu-LISA's agenda for 2021 revolves around developing three new large-scale IT systems (EES, ETIAS, ECRIS-TCN), managing and updating the existing three systems (Eurodac, SIS, VIS), as well as working on achieving Interoperability between all systems.
For an overview or recap on how these systems help us ensure a safer Europe, go to our dedicated portal: Discover eu-LISA
Systems' Availability
eu-LISA continued to ensure the expected high level of performance and availability for SIS, VIS, Eurodac and their sub-systems during 2021, despite the subsequent waves of the COVID-19 pandemic that swept Europe.
Systems' Development
The implementation of the new Interoperability architecture for border management and internal security in the EU is the most complex and challenging transformation programme that has been launched in the last decades. As the pandemic generated difficulties for both Member States and contractors, the European Council mandated eu-LISA, the European Commission and Member States to develop an alternative timeline for the deployment of the new systems. The Agency has been working intensively, in close collaboration with experts from the Member States, the Commission, as well as eu-LISA's governing bodies, exploring a number of alternative scenarios for the implementation of EES, also taking into consideration the effects on ETIAS' implementation. The approach of the Agency was to keep the ultimate objective of having the new Interoperability architecture implemented by the end of 2023 unchanged.
Proposed Timeline
The alternative implementation scenario should allocate reasonable time for implementation of the planned activities at European and national level and should include all building blocks of the interoperability architecture (EES, ETIAS, Interoperability components, ECRIS-TCN and SIS). The milestones are divided as follows:
Milestones at central level:
Milestones at national level:
Entry-into-Operations: end of September 2022
Milestones at central level:
Milestones at national level:
Entry-into-Operations: mid-May 2023
For technical and operational reasons, the minimum time between Entry-into-Operations of EES and ETIAS should be at least 6 months.
Since September 2021, registration for EES and ETIAS is available for air carriers, sea carriers and international carriers transporting groups overland by coach via bit.ly/eu-LISA-Carriers.
The registration enables carriers to receive all information necessary for the preparation of their respective systems and business processes in order to consult the EU IT systems managed by eu-LISA, as the latter is regulated in the EES and ETIAS legislation.
Milestones at central level:
Milestones at national level:
IO components to be implemented by the end of 2023
Milestones at central level:
Milestones at national level:
Entry-into-Operations: May 2023
One of the legal prerequisites for entry-into-operations of ETIAS is its interconnection with SIS, which can be implemented only after the entry-into-operations of the SIS Recast. To ensure a coordinated and smooth transition from SIS II to the new SIS, and considering the revised implementation timeline for ETIAS, the SIS Recast will enter-into-operations no later than end of June 2022.
The implementation of the revised VIS Regulation will go beyond the end of 2023 and will have a timeline parallel to the one for the implementation of the Interoperability architecture. To fulfil legal requirements for the entry-into-operations of ETIAS, the current VIS systems needs to be integrated into the Interoperability architecture.
On 9 December 2021, political consensus was reached as well, when the Justice and Home Affairs Council approved the new timeline for sub-components, while maintaining the original deadline of end-2023 for the deployment of the new Interoperability architecture.
The Commission fully supports the new timeline - it ensures that full interoperability can still be achieved as planned by end-2023, said Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson during the meeting.
There is a high number of tasks that have to be executed in parallel and very limited margin for major setbacks. It also involves a range of risks, but it is important to emphasize that considering the complexity of the work at stake, a risk-free scenario does not exist, highlighted eu-LISA Executive Director Krum Garkov, adding: "Risks are an essential part of the project work and need to be managed pro-actively by all actors involved (...) The time for discussions and deskwork is over. Now we all need to focus our energy and efforts on implementation and to do our utmost to achieve all milestones on the way and the overall objective of having the interoperability architecture in place by the end of 2023."
As part of eu-LISA's growing role in the justice domain, e-CODEX, an IT tool for European cross-border cooperation in the area of justice, will be entrusted to the Agency as of 1 July 2023.
e-CODEX (e-Justice Communication via Online Data Exchange) offers a digital infrastructure for secure communication, facilitating cross-border judicial cooperation – which is crucial to the mobility of citizens and businesses in Europe. Their access to justice should not be discouraged by the complex variety of the different legal systems across EU Member States. Easier access also means an additional step towards achieving a true Single Market.
e-CODEX is currently maintained by an international consortium comprised of EU Member States, European chambers of legal professionals and other institutions. The system is mostly funded by different grants from the European Commission, however, in order to find a long-term sustainable solution, e-CODEX needs to be handed over to an established Institution. This is where eu-LISA comes into play.
The Agency has the required technical expertise to ensure efficient management of the IT infrastructure behind e-CODEX, as well as experience in managing a variety of governance structures, enabling the full involvement of Member States and the European Commission.
In December, during the negotiations between the European Parliament and the Council represented by the Slovenian Presidency, an agreement was reached on the proposal for a regulation on e-CODEX and it will be hosted by eu-LISA in Tallinn (formal adoption still follows).
However, the transfer of the system to eu-LISA is not an end in itself, as very soon e-CODEX will be ready for further expansion. This means that particular attention must be given to sustainability, and e-CODEX will require the introduction of new security and interoperability features. As with any new technology, the implementation must occur hand in hand with the full respect of fundamental rights, data protection and privacy regulations.
eu-LISA will be responsible, among others, for:
e-CODEX was the focal point of Executive Director Krum Garkov's presentation at a high-level conference organised by the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
"Even though eu-LISA is considered a newcomer to the Justice community, the Agency stands ready to support the efficient management of the system, and to contribute with its experience and capacity to accelerate the digitalisation of the justice domain. We look at e-CODEX not as a simple communication platform, but as a strategic building block in the overall digitalisation process", he said during his intervention.
Approximately 10 million people are currently involved in cross-border civil proceedings in the EU. In an increasingly digital society, cross-border judicial cooperation relies on e-Justice solutions to facilitate the interaction between different national and European actors in legal procedures. e-CODEX provides the digital infrastructure for secure cross-border communication and information exchange in criminal and civil law, allowing people and legal entities to assert their rights more quickly and easily.
In short, secure communication and information exchange between Member States in the field of justice. The broader vision of e-CODEX is that any citizen or legal professional in the European Union could communicate electronically with any legal authority, including communication of legal authorities with each other.
The e-CODEX system is currently foreseen for:
By harmonising the different approaches within EU countries, e-CODEX will improve the efficiency of cross-border information exchange. The main benefits are increased security and reliability along with improved time management in the completion of cross-border processes.
e-CODEX is a decentralised network of access points established with every user. Without replacing the existing back-end systems in the Members States, e-CODEX interlinks national and European IT systems in the e-Justice domain. Therefore, each user has to set up their own access point to participate in the communication.
Yes, the services of e-CODEX are available without any charge.
Read the full FAQ on the e-CODEX website.
eu-LISA is excited to reveal a new fresh "look" based on a re-designed logo.
See for yourself – drag the slider to the left:
The new logo is the focal point of our new visual identity, as are the related graphic elements that create our visual language. To be able to speak this language correctly, we need to follow the Visual Identity Manual.
The 13th edition of the eu-LISA Industry Roundtable, "Contactless Travel in Post-COVID Times: Enhancing the EU Security Ecosystem", organised in cooperation with the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU, took place online on 1-2 June and reunited representatives from industry, Member State authorities and EU institutions.
Over 330 participants from 40 countries came together to discuss the opportunities and challenges that exist on the way to seamless or contactless travel. The event featured pioneering technologies, products and services provided by industry, addressing pandemic-related challenges that the current security ecosystem faces.
Although I am sure we all miss the good old days, I am certain that we cannot go back to what used to be normal back in 2019. Instead, we must embrace this crisis as an opportunity to bring changes to the passenger journey, making it even more efficient, seamless, and secure.Krum Garkov, Executive Director
Featured keynote speaker Ciarán Carolan from ICAO – previously the head of the External Affairs and Capacity Building Sector at eu-LISA – talked about the dematerialisation of the passport and the increase in usability that could be achieved through global interoperability.
The audience got a glimpse at a few elements from the development of our Agency's e-VISA pilot project, an online visa application portal that aims to facilitate tourism and business, while preventing security risks and the risk of irregular migration to the EU.
As the event was co-hosted by the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU, attendees had the opportunity of seeing a case study in implementing contactless travel at Lisbon airport.
Three industry presentations touched upon the following topics:
Day 2 kicked off with an in-depth look at the European Commission's and Deloitte's security market study, which highlighted the importance of data protection and privacy when it comes to processing information within large-scale IT systems. Alongside the Commission and other JHA Agencies, eu-LISA is highly committed to processing personal data in a lawful way and strictly follows the requirements set out in the legislation that governs the IT systems in the execution of its tasks, and the development of new technologies.
Facial recognition and its potential applications in paperless travel/ immigration was the main topic of Patrick Grother's keynote presentation. The NIST scientist talked about the accuracy of multiple facial recognition algorithms, false positives, false negatives, as well as facial recognition whilst facemasks are worn.
The industry presentations featured further applied use cases, such as a drive-through border solution and a touchless biometric lane in the case of rail travel, as well as key attack vectors against biometric system, and touchless/ holographic border crossing gates.
On 27 October, eu-LISA held its 8th Annual Conference, Towards the Digital Schengen Area, organised in cooperation with the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Reuniting over 320 participants from EU Institutions and Agencies, as well as from International Organisations and EU Member States, the event took stock of current developments in the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) area, in which the upcoming launch of the Entry/Exit System (EES), the European Travel Information Authorisation System (ETIAS) and the new Interoperability architecture will create a new and modern gateway at European external borders. Further to that, handling the COVID-19 pandemic has sparked new initiatives, such as vaccination passports and medical tests, all affecting traditional border checks.
The event was opened by European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson, who highlighted eu-LISA as a crucial backbone of the Schengen Area's digitalisation. Aleš Hojs, Minister of the Interior of the Republic of Slovenia, as well as Juan Fernando López Aguilar, Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), underlined the huge potential of artificial intelligence (AI) applications in internal security and border management, but not without overlooking safeguard and control mechanism that would insure the protection of fundamental rights and privacy.
Throughout the conference, the audience had to opportunity to vote on key questions for the future of the travel experience, concerning solutions for biometric-based contactless entry, vaccination information, and the use of anonymised data for AI studies. The results:
And here are the key takeaways, as seen by Executive Director Krum Garkov:
The 14th edition of the eu-LISA Industry Roundtable, "Artificial Intelligence and Large-Scale IT Systems: Opportunities and Challenges", organised in cooperation with the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU, took place in a novel format, spanning four consecutive weeks, one afternoon per week.
The event at a glance:
The opening speech from eu-LISA’s Executive Director Krum Garkov was followed by a keynote presentation on AI for Law Enforcement by Aleksander Pur (on behalf of the Slovenian Presidency) and on the prediction of migration flows (Cristina Blasi/ ITFLOWS). Company presentations featured Fujitsu, Decisively Australia, Atos and Almaviva.
Saskia Bayerl kicked off the day with a keynote presentation on the accountability for AI usage in the area of security. Company presentations were held by Leonardo, GMV and secunet.
The shortest session in the series had three company presentations showcased: NTT Data, PwC and Sopra Steria.
The final keynote presentation was delivered by Haoyu Zhang and Christoph Busch on AI supporting the evaluation of face recognition technology. Frontex Research Officer Luigi Raffaele presented an overview of the “Technology Foresight on Biometrics for the Future of Travel” project, and four company presentations (IDEMIA, Fujitsu, Mobai and secunet) closed the day before eu-LISA Deputy Executive Director Luca Tagliaretti’s closing remarks.
We have an obligation to regulate specific applications of AI bearing in mind the public good, without being dogmatic and regulating the technology as a whole, as this will reduce our competitiveness.Luca Tagliaretti, Deputy Executive Director
In our previous issue we talked about Artificial Intelligence (AI) initiatives at eu-LISA – now let's take a look at the broader context.
While there is agreement around the idea that AI should become a practical support tool for law enforcement practitioners, helping bolster Europe's internal security, an important question has so far remained unanswered:
How do you find the right balance between AI and data protection, data privacy and fundamental rights?
In April 2021, the European Commission published a 'package' concerning AI, seeking to address some of these concerns, but also laying down a set of harmonised rules and amending legislation. The AI package is of particular interest to eu-LISA, as it covers the areas of law enforcement, border management, migration and asylum.
According to the reviewed Coordinated Plan on AI (started in 2018), the Commission intends to focus on funding networks of AI centres of excellence and to set up a European Partnership on AI, Data and Robotics under the Horizon Europe research project.
The Commission's proposal also covers restrictions on the use of remote biometric identification systems and, based on a proportionate risk-based approach, breaks down AI applications/ systems into the following categories:
According to the proposed regulation, EU Agencies, such as eu-LISA, can have their own regulatory sandbox, that would allow the development and testing of AI systems in an environment completely separated from the systems they already have in use.
Similar to parameters and clauses foreseen in the field of data protection, the European Data Protection Supervisor EDPS shall act as the market surveillance authority, having the right to impose administrative fines on EU Institutions, Agencies and Bodies for infringements or non-compliance.
eu-LISA has also been active in the domain this year. In a workshop on AI and law enforcement that took place in April, eu-LISA's top management stressed that, ultimately, AI is just a tool that helps human decision-making and does not replace it.
While it is a well-known fact that humans have biases, and so will the algorithms created by them, there are a number of measures that can be taken in order to reduce those biases, namely:
In May, the Agency hosted the first meeting of a new Working Group on Artificial Intelligence, that will identify use cases for implementing AI solutions in the large-scale IT systems entrusted to eu-LISA, to maximise the added value of the services the Agency provides to its stakeholders.
“AI creates many opportunities to enhance and strengthen internal security, border management, migration management and to increase efficiency of practitioners”, said eu-LISA Executive Director Krum Garkov during the meeting. “The Working Group will make a direct contribution to the implementation of the new Security Union strategy, and will help the EU to develop and keep its strategic independence in the area of AI.” Read more
The November edition of our Industry Roundtable also focused on AI and its many implications. Read more
Early next year, eu-LISA and fellow Agency Eurojust will publish a joint report on AI supporting cross-border cooperation in criminal justice.
Europe Day 2021 marked the launch of eu-LISA's interactive Quiz, which challenges users to test their knowledge on topics regarding how the Schengen Area and the European Union work, and how eu-LISA does its part in ensuring free movement and safe travel across Europe.
Available in English, French and Estonian, the quiz contains 30 questions divided into 5 categories, addressing trivia that most citizen will inevitably ask themselves at one point, such as "If a country is part of the Schengen Area, is it also automatically a part of the EU?" or "Where does the name 'Schengen' come from?"
Several members of the public sent us screenshots of their results after completing our quiz, and they all looked like this:
Want to see if you can match their performance?
iframe embedded via quiz.eulisa.europa.eu
2022 is a special year, as it marks our 10th anniversary.
For the past decade, the Agency has focused on transforming traditional models for border and migration management into digital ones. In doing so, eu-LISA has worked in close cooperation with EU Institutions and Member States to ensure that new technologies are trustworthy, bring added value to people, and are used solely for legitimate purposes. This is also the way ahead for eu-LISA in the future.
We have evolved as an organisation and as a strong and capable team of experts, entrusted to implement the most complex and challenging transformation programme that the EU has launched in the last decades. The progress made working efficiently and transparently with all our stakeholders, combined with the dedication and hard work of every eu-LISA employee, makes us proud of our achievements, despite the challenges and difficulties faced.
The first 10 years of eu-LISA have been exciting. We would like to thank all our staff, partners, and stakeholders for their cooperation, commitment and achievements during our journey. In everything we do during the next decades, we will keep facilitating the implementation of one of the EU citizens’ fundamental rights – the right to free movement within the Schengen Area.
Throughout 2022 we will have numerous online and offline products to celebrate an adventurous decade, so stay tuned.
eu-LISA continuously strives to ensure the freedom, security, and rights of the EU’s citizens and its future generations.
Thanks to our team’s skills, expertise, and efforts, for the past 10 years we have been developing large-scale IT Systems for the Schengen Area, allowing all of us to move freely, safely, and seamlessly.
The headquarters building of eu-LISA in Tallinn, Estonia has been awarded the second place in the 'Green' category at the European Public Sector Award (EPSA) 2021 competition, which took place in Maastricht.
Frontex and eu-LISA concluded an agreement to strengthen their cooperation. The cooperation plan was signed by Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri and eu-LISA Executive Director Krum Garkov during the Heads of Justice and Home Affairs Agencies annual meeting in Warsaw.
The nine European Justice and Home Affairs Agencies came together to wrap up the activities of the network in 2021 and present its key achievements. The event also gathered high-level representatives from the European Commission, European Parliament, European External Action Service, the General Secretariat of the Council, as well as the current Slovenian Presidency of the Council and the upcoming French one.
On 21 October 2021, eu-LISA hosted a delegation from the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) at its headquarters in Tallinn, Estonia.
Establishing access for Eurojust to eu-LISA's new large-scale IT system ECRIS-TCN, as well as the Interoperability architecture that will strengthen the Justice and Home Affairs domain, is the foundation of the three-year Cooperation Plan.
As of 26 July 2021, Bulgaria and Romania have been successfully connected to the Visa Information System (VIS) for passive (read-only) access, allowing them to view visa applications and access e-mail services, allowing for smoother visa processing.
eu-LISA attended the Informal meeting of Justice and Home Affairs Ministers organised and hosted by the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Read about Migration and Asylum & Digitalisation and AI
eu-LISA and Eurojust met online to discuss their cooperation plan for 2021-2023. Krum Garkov, Executive Director of eu-LISA, and Ladislav Hamran, President of Eurojust, exchanged views regarding future joint contributions on digitalising the criminal justice systems in the EU.
An overview of eu-LISA and its role in support the European Union’s visa policy was also discussed, with a special focus on VIS and ETIAS.
Meetings with host country authorities are always very productive and boost eu-LISA's constructive relations with key Member States.
The meeting focused on the digitalisation of the EU's justice domain and the development of the e-CODEX platform. As a champion of digitalisation, Estonia has valuable experience and a strong interest in the development of the EU's Digital Justice hub in Tallinn.
eu-LISA hosted its 7th annual meeting with the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Counsellors and other stakeholders.
After almost a year of virtual meetings, eu-LISA had the pleasure of hosting a delegation from the Slovenian Ministry of Interior at its headquarters in Tallinn today.
eu-LISA had the pleasure of a virtual meeting with Ms Jeanne Barseghian, Mayor of the city of Strasbourg, and other members of her office, to brief on the progress the Agency is making in the preparations of our new premises in Illkirch and the extension work going on at our Operational site.
eu-LISA and the Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs of the European Commission (DG HOME) signed dedicated Terms of Reference to improve collaboration on research and innovation relevant to the JHA domain.
eu-LISA hosted its 7th high-level meeting with Ambassadors and representatives from diplomatic missions in Estonia. Already a traditional annual event, the briefing is also attended by senior officials from the Estonian administration.
The agencies' individual and joint efforts to deal with the impact of the pandemic have been captured in a Joint Paper on the COVID-19 response by the JHA agencies.
To further increase transparency and provide awareness regarding its activities, eu-LISA started publishing the summaries of its Management Board meetings.
Executive Directors Juhan Lepassaar (ENISA) and Krum Garkov (eu-LISA) signed a multiannual Cooperation Plan. The plan sets out activities that will provide benefits through joint actions to the Agencies themselves and to the EU Member States.
The European Agency eu-LISA was established in 2012 to manage large-scale information systems in the area of freedom, security and justice. Today, we are at the forefront of Europe's information-driven border management and internal security, facilitating the implementation of one of EU citizens' fundamental rights – the right to free movement within the Schengen Area.
The headquarters of eu-LISA are in Tallinn, Estonia, whilst its operational centre is in Strasbourg, France. There is also a technical business continuity site for the systems under management based in Sankt Johann im Pongau, Austria, and a Liaison Office in Brussels, Belgium.
© 2021 European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
eu-LISA is an Agency of the European Union 
