European Information System EIS: convention

OBJECTIVE: The draft convention provides for the establishment of a European Information System (EIS) whose purpose would be to administer the list of persons who are barred from entering the territory of the European Union. The convention would organize the setting-up of the national system to be established in each Member State and the installation of the technical support function for the entire EIS in Strasbourg. SUBSTANCE: The draft convention is closely linked to the Convention which relates to the crossing of the external frontiers of Member States, and is partly an instrument for the practical application of this Convention. The draft convention provides for the establishment of an information system to administer the list of persons barred from entering the territory of the EU and seeks therefore to promote the exchange of information on data relating to persons who should be refused access, by the Member States, to the entire territory of the Union. The police and customs services of the fifteen Member States would be able to interrogate the system when making cross-border checks and inspections, in the same way as when carrying out other checks and searches in their national territory. The draft convention indicates which categories of information would be entered into the EIS by the appropriate national services of the fifteen Member States. This would include data relating to: . persons who are to be arrested for the purpose of extradition, . persons who are classified as undesirable under Article 10 of the Convention on external borders, namely those who represent a threat to public order or to the security of a Member State, persons who carry certain types of conviction or who have committed serious offences or those who have committed repeated offences when entering or residing in a foreign country (according to the terms and conditions to be laid down), . persons who have gone missing or who, for their own protection, have to be taken into safe custody on a temporary basis, at the request of the judicial authorities or other competent bodies, . witnesses and persons who are summoned to appear before the judicial authorities, . persons who have been selected for discreet surveillance or for specific investigation. The EIS should also carry data relating to specific categories of objects which are being sought for the purpose of seizure or to serve as evidence in the context of criminal proceedings. This would include items such as vehicles, firearms, identity documents and bank-notes. Finally, the draft convention specifies the conditions for data capture and lays down the rules for the use of data of a personnel nature, and its protection. The EIS, whose main management centre would be located in Strasbourg, should be compatible with the SIS (Schengen information system). France was to assume responsibility for the technical operation of the system, as is already the case for the SIS. The cost for setting-up and using the EIS would be shared by the Member States. �