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Schengen

The Schengen Agreement, signed on 14 June 1985, and the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement signed on 19 June 1990, abolished internal borders between participating member states and created a large borderless territory called the "Schengen area". The Schengen Agreement and Convention provide for stricter external border control, closer cooperation between justice and police, and bring the visa policy in line with the asylum policy.

The Agreement and the Convention, as well as the rules relating to these texts, constitute the Schengen acquis. Since 1999 the Schengen acquis has been integrated into the legal and institutional framework of the EU.

The Schengen Information System (SIS) is a computer system that was introduced in the context of the implementation of the Schengen Area. It constitutes one of the so-called compensatory measures for the free movement provided for by the Schengen Agreement and Convention. These compensatory measures were introduced to ensure protection at a level at least identical to the level of protection before the internal border abolition. SIS enables the competent authorities of the Schengen states to exchange information with a view to performing border checks of individuals and objects and issuing visas and residence permits.

SIS has been operational since 26 March 1995, the day the Schengen Convention entered into force.

SIS has a twofold objective:

• preservation of public order and safety;
• application of the provisions regarding the free movement of individuals.

The following individuals can be registered in SIS:

• individuals to be arrested with a view to deporting them;
• wanted foreigners with a view to preventing them for entering the territory;
• missing persons and individuals needing temporary protection (especially minors and individuals who are to be confined);
• witnesses and other individuals who have been summoned to appear before the judicial authorities in the context of a criminal procedure;
• individuals subject to discrete surveillance or specific checks necessary in the context of the fight against crime or intended to prevent disturbances of the peace.

Dealt with in the so-called "third pillar", the policy area comprising police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, SIS is now a second-generation system (SIS II).

With the Schengen Convention a Joint Supervisory Authority was established, composed of representatives of every national supervisory authority.

The Joint Supervisory Authority is in charge of:

• checking how SIS works and how technical support is organized;
• correctly implementing the stipulations of the Convention;
• analysing implementation and interpretation problems that may arise when using SIS;
• investigating problems that may occur during independent inspections of national supervisory authorities or when the right to access the system is exercised;
• finding harmonizing solutions for existing common problems.

Every Schengen state has established a national supervisory authority in charge of:

• independent checks of the national component of the SIS file;
• verification of the processing and use of the data integrated in SIS, to make sure that this does not violate the rights of the data subjects.

In Belgium the Commission for the Protection of Privacy is the supervisory authority. The Commission consequently has to ensure that the Belgian authori ties register data in SIS according to the principles of the Schengen Convention.

Applying the principles of data protection, the Schengen Agreement recognizes that data subjects have special rights, regardless of whether they are citizens of a Schengen area member state. They have the right to access the data and have them rectified or deleted.

The right of access exists for any individual requesting to consult the information relating to him in the file. This basic principle of data protection enables data subjects to check personal data kept by third parties.

This right was provided for explicitly in the Schengen Agreement and is completed with the right to rectify data that were registered incorrectly due to a factual error, and with the right to delete the data if they were registered due to a judicial error.

Any individual wishing to exercise his right of access can address the competent authorities of the Schengen country of his choice. The right of access is exercised pursuant to the national law of the country the request is addressed to. In some countries the right of access is direct, in others indirect. More information can be found in the "Guide for exercising the right of access" published by the Schengen Joint Supervisory Authority.

Any individual requiring information about the procedure for access and rectification can contact the national authorities of the various Schengen countries.

In Belgium access is indirect, meaning that the Commission acts as intermediary. Consequently, you have to contact the Commission in order to exercise your rights. The entire procedure is free of charge.

Which elements does the request have to contain?

The data subject has to address a dated and signed letter to the Commission (including his name, first name, date of birth, nationality and a copy of his identity card, passport or an equivalent document).

Moreover, the request must contain the following information (if it is known to the data subject):

• the authority or service having registered the concerned individual in SIS;
• all relevant information about the data under dispute, such as the nature of the data, the circumstances or the place in which they became known to the data subject;
• the desired rectifications, if any.

The Commission has drafted a model letter for you to help you exercise your rights: simply add your personal data to the areas highlighted in grey.

What will happen when you have submitted your request?

When the Commission has received your request for access, rectification or deletion, it will contact the authority concerned and verify all elements it considers useful. If the data were registered in SIS by Belgium, the Commission may have them rectified or deleted, or have data entered that are different from the data processed by the service concerned. It may also prohibit disclosure of the data.

Which information does the Commission transmit?

If the competent Belgian authorities registered the data in SIS, the Commission, following the advice of the police service concerned, can transmit the information it sees fit to the data subject. If the authorities having registered the data in SIS are not Belgian, the Commission will contact the country having done so.

It is forbidden to disclose the information if this could compromise the execution of the legal tasks resulting from registration in SIS or violate the rights and freedoms of others. Disclosure is also prohibited for SIS registration with a view to discrete surveillance, for the entire period the surveillance takes place.

SIS is described in Title IV (articles 92 up to and including 119) of the Convention of 19 June 1990 implementing the Schengen Agreement of 14 June 1985. Since a series of new functions were introduced in SIS (in 2004 and 2005), however, the text was no longer up-to-date and adaptations to Title IV of the Schengen Convention became necessary.