Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-12-13-Speech-3-477"
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"en.20061213.41.3-477"2
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"Mr President, Mr Frattini, ladies and gentlemen, we are all aware of the importance of the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II), and Mr Frattini has just reminded us of this. The advent of free movement within the Community area and the absence of internal borders means we must strengthen the security of the Union's external borders and this can only be done if information is shared between all members of the Schengen area.
Mr Frattini also said – and this is a view I share – that SIS II is not only a new generation of the Schengen Information System; it can also be said that this is a new Schengen Information System, with new functions, new uses and new imported data. Apart from the technical issues involved in building a new system, there is also a political issue, relating to the legitimate ambition of the new Member States to join the Schengen area at the earliest opportunity. This is a crucial issue for the new Member States; it is about whether or not they can offer their citizens the chance of free movement in the Community area.
In order for them to be in the Schengen area they have to join SIS. As we know, SIS is not in itself sufficient, in other words, merely joining SIS is not enough in order to be in the Schengen area. There is a series of other prerequisites that must be fulfilled. It is a necessary requirement, however; one cannot be in the Schengen area without being in the Schengen Information System. Consequently, the creation of SIS II has to be a priority for us, and this is why we worked so hard to achieve the adoption of the legal basis of SIS II at first reading – and, having worked closely with Parliament on this objective throughout the process, Mr Frattini is an eyewitness to this. The adoption of the legal basis will prevent us suffering worse delays in implementing the SIS II, and I should like to thank him once again for his decisive help in achieving this objective.
The mandate granted by the Council to the Commission to develop SIS II finishes in a few days, on 31 December. The Commission is proposing that this date be extended to 2007, and admits that the system will not be operational before 2008. The proposal to extend the deadline to December 2007 is the optimistic version. I was very pleased to hear Mr Frattini say that in February 2007 he will set out a definitive timetable and that he is only expecting a delay of six to eight months. I must say that this prediction is considerably more positive than the worrying information that had been circulating. It is still a delay but it is much less serious than we feared. I hope he is right, as there are those who believe that we may face bigger delays. In any event, Mr Frattini will know that Parliament always fulfils its monitoring obligations. We want to monitor the implementation of this process, and if there are delays, we want to know why they have taken place.
I should like to thank the shadow rapporteurs from other political groups, in particular Mrs Mastenbroek and Mr Lax, and I should like to thank publicly those MEPs on my side of the Chamber who have kept a close eye on this issue, who have always encouraged me and who have constantly showed their great concern over the pace at which SIS II was being implemented, in particular Mrs Bauer from Slovakia, Mr Brejc from Slovenia, Mrs Gál from Hungary, Mr Demetriou from Cyprus and of course Mrs Kudrycka from Poland, who will speak on behalf of the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats in this debate."@en1
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