The European Commission has
proposed setting up an agency to manage the region's large IT
systems containing passport, visa and fingerprint information.
These are the Schengen Information System (SISii) containing
passport data, the
visa information system (VIS) and
Eurodac fingerprint comparison system.
The agency will cost an estimated €113m, but the EC said
managing the three systems in one location will lower costs,
increase efficiency and improve information sharing.
Annual connection costs are estimated at €16.5m, which will be
paid out of the EU general budget.
The agency will be set up between 2010 and 2013 as an
independent regulatory body responsible for keeping the IT systems
under its charge running without interruption.
The agency will also be tasked with ensuring the security, data
quality and data protection compliance of the systems.
The plan is to gradually extend the agency to include other
systems to become a centre of excellence for security-related IT
systems.
The EC said the agency could also be used to prepare, develop
and manage future large-scale IT systems in the region.