Regulation (EU) 2018/1861 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 November 2018 on the establishment, operation and use of the Schengen Information System (SIS) in the field of border checks, and amending the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement, and amending and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1987/2006

Europol and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency shall ensure adequate follow-up to the findings and recommendations stemming from the evaluation.

A report on the results of the evaluation and follow-up to it shall be sent to the European Parliament and to the Council.

Alerts shall be kept only for the time required to achieve the purposes for which they were entered.

An issuing Member State shall, within three years of the entry of an alert into SIS, review the need to retain it. However, if the national decision on which the alert is based provides for a longer period of validity than three years, the alert shall be reviewed within five years.

Each Member State shall, where appropriate, set shorter review periods in accordance with its national law.

Within the review period, the issuing Member State may, following a comprehensive individual assessment, which shall be recorded, decide to retain the alert for longer than the review period, where this proves necessary and proportionate for the purposes for which the alert was entered. In such a case, paragraph 2 shall also apply to the extension. Any such extension shall be communicated to CS-SIS.

Alerts shall be deleted automatically after the review period referred to in paragraph 2 has expired except where the issuing Member State has informed CS-SIS of an extension pursuant to paragraph 4. CS-SIS shall automatically inform the issuing Member State of the scheduled deletion of data four months in advance.

Member States shall keep statistics on the number of alerts the retention periods of which have been extended in accordance with paragraph 4 of this Article and transmit them, upon request, to the supervisory authorities referred to in Article 55.

As soon as it becomes clear to a SIRENE Bureau that an alert has achieved its purpose and should therefore be deleted, it shall immediately notify the authority which created the alert. The authority shall have 15 calendar days from the receipt of that notification to reply that the alert has been or shall be deleted or shall state reasons for the retention of the alert. If no reply has been received by the end of the 15-day period, the SIRENE Bureau shall ensure that the alert is deleted. Where permissible under national law, the alert shall be deleted by the SIRENE Bureau. SIRENE Bureaux shall report any recurring issues they encounter when acting under this paragraph to their supervisory authority.

Alerts for refusal of entry and stay pursuant to Article 24 shall be deleted:

Alerts on third-country nationals who are the subject of a restrictive measure intended to prevent entry into or transit through the territory of Member States shall be deleted when the restrictive measure has been terminated, suspended or annulled.

Alerts on a person who has acquired citizenship of a Member State or of any State whose nationals are beneficiaries of the right of free movement under Union law shall be deleted as soon as the issuing Member State becomes aware, or is so informed pursuant to Article 44 that the person in question has acquired such citizenship.

Alerts shall be deleted upon expiry of the alert in accordance with Article 39.

The Member States shall only process the data referred to in Article 20 for the purposes of refusing entry into and stay on their territories.

Data shall only be copied for technical purposes, where such copying is necessary in order for the competent authorities referred to in Article 34 to carry out a direct search. This Regulation shall apply to those copies. A Member State shall not copy alert data or additional data entered by another Member State from its N.SIS or from the CS-SIS into other national data files.

Technical copies referred to in paragraph 2 which result in offline databases may be retained for a period not exceeding 48 hours.

Access to data in SIS by national competent authorities referred to in Article 34 shall only be authorised within the limits of their competence and only to duly authorised staff.

Any processing of SIS data by Member States for purposes other than those for which it was entered into SIS has to be linked with a specific case and justified by the need to prevent an imminent and serious threat to public policy and to public security, on serious grounds of national security or for the purposes of preventing a serious crime. Prior authorisation from the issuing Member State shall be obtained for this purpose.

Data concerning documents related to persons that are entered into SIS under points (k) and (l) of Article 38(2) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1862 may be used by the competent authorities referred to in point (f) of Article 34(1) in accordance with the laws of each Member State.

Any use of SIS data which does not comply with paragraphs 1 to 6 of this Article shall be considered as misuse under the national law of each Member State and subject to penalties in accordance with Article 59.

Each Member State shall send to eu-LISA a list of its competent authorities which are authorised to search the data in SIS directly pursuant to this Regulation, as well as any changes to the list. The list shall specify, for each authority, which data it may search and for what purposes. eu-LISA shall ensure that the list is published in the Official Journal of the European Union annually. eu-LISA shall maintain a continuously updated list on its website containing changes sent by Member States between the annual publications.

Insofar as Union law does not lay down specific provisions, the law of each Member State shall apply to data in its N.SIS.

Article 41(2) shall be without prejudice to the right of a Member State to keep in its national files SIS data in connection with which action has been taken on its territory. Such data shall be kept in national files for a maximum period of three years, except if specific provisions in national law provide for a longer retention period.

Article 41(2) shall be without prejudice to the right of a Member State to keep in its national files data contained in a particular alert entered in SIS by that Member State.

An issuing Member State shall be responsible for ensuring that the data are accurate, up-to-date, and entered and stored in SIS lawfully.

Where an issuing Member State receives relevant additional or modified data as listed in Article 20(2), it shall complete or modify the alert without delay.

Only the issuing Member State shall be authorised to modify, add to, correct, update or delete data which it has entered into SIS.

Where a Member State other than the issuing Member State has relevant additional or modified data as listed in Article 20(2), it shall transmit them without delay, through the exchange of supplementary information, to the issuing Member State to enable the latter to complete or modify the alert. The data shall only be transmitted if the identity of the third-country national is ascertained.

Where a Member State other than the issuing Member State has evidence suggesting that an item of data is factually incorrect or has been unlawfully stored, it shall, through the exchange of supplementary information, inform the issuing Member State as soon as possible and not later than two working days after that evidence has come to its attention. The issuing Member State shall check the information and, if necessary, correct or delete the item in question without delay.

Where the Member States are unable to reach an agreement within two months of the time when evidence first came to light as referred to in paragraph 5 of this Article, the Member State which did not enter the alert shall submit the matter to the supervisory authorities concerned and to the European Data Protection Supervisor for a decision, by means of cooperation in accordance with Article 57.

The Member States shall exchange supplementary information in cases where a person complains that he or she is not the intended subject of an alert. Where the outcome of the check shows that the intended subject of an alert is not the complainant, the complainant shall be informed of the measures laid down in Article 47 and of the right to redress under Article 54(1).

Any event that has or may have an impact on the security of SIS or may cause damage or loss to SIS data or to the supplementary information shall be considered to be a security incident, especially where unlawful access to data may have occurred or where the availability, integrity and confidentiality of data has or may have been compromised.

Security incidents shall be managed in a way as to ensure a quick, effective and proper response.

Without prejudice to the notification and communication of a personal data breach pursuant to Article 33 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 or to Article 30 of Directive (EU) 2016/680, Member States, Europol and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency shall notify the Commission, eu-LISA, the competent supervisory authority and the European Data Protection Supervisor without delay of security incidents. eu-LISA shall notify the Commission and the European Data Protection Supervisor without delay of any security incident concerning Central SIS.

Information regarding a security incident that has or may have an impact on the operation of SIS in a Member State or within eu-LISA, on the availability, integrity and confidentiality of the data entered or sent by other Member States or on supplementary information exchanged, shall be provided to all Member States without delay and reported in compliance with the incident management plan provided by eu-LISA.

The Member States and eu-LISA shall collaborate in the event of a security incident.

The Commission shall report serious incidents immediately to the European Parliament and to the Council. Those reports shall be classified as EU RESTRICTED/RESTREINT UE in accordance with applicable security rules.

Where a security incident is caused by the misuse of data, Member States, Europol and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency shall ensure that penalties are imposed in accordance with Article 59.

Where upon a new alert being entered it becomes apparent that there is already an alert in SIS on a person with the same description of identity, the SIRENE Bureau shall contact the issuing Member State through the exchange of supplementary information within 12 hours to cross-check whether the subjects of the two alerts are the same person.

Where the cross-check reveals that the subject of the new alert and the person subject to the alert already entered in SIS are indeed one and the same person, the SIRENE Bureau shall apply the procedure for entering multiple alerts referred to in Article 23.

Where the outcome of the cross-check is that there are in fact two different persons, the SIRENE Bureau shall approve the request for entering the second alert by adding the data necessary to avoid any misidentifications.

Where confusion may arise between the person intended to be the subject of an alert and a person whose identity has been misused, the issuing Member State shall, subject to the explicit consent of the person whose identity has been misused, add data relating to the latter to the alert in order to avoid the negative consequences of misidentification. Any person whose identity has been misused shall have the right to withdraw his or her consent regarding the processing of the added personal data.

Data relating to a person whose identity has been misused shall be used only for the following purposes:

For the purpose of this Article, and subject to the explicit consent of the person whose identity has been misused for each data category, only the following personal data of the person whose identity has been misused may be entered and further processed in SIS:

The Commission shall adopt implementing acts to lay down and develop technical rules necessary for entering and further processing the data referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 62(2).

The data referred to in paragraph 3 shall be deleted at the same time as the corresponding alert or earlier where the person so requests.

Only the authorities having a right of access to the corresponding alert may access the data referred to in paragraph 3. They may do so for the sole purpose of avoiding misidentification.

A Member State may create a link between alerts it enters in SIS. The effect of such a link shall be to establish a relationship between two or more alerts.

The creation of a link shall not affect the specific action to be taken on the basis of each linked alert or the review period of each of the linked alerts.

The creation of a link shall not affect the rights of access provided for in this Regulation. Authorities with no right of access to certain categories of alerts shall not be able to see the link to an alert to which they do not have access.

A Member State shall create a link between alerts when there is an operational need.

Where a Member State considers that the creation by another Member State of a link between alerts is incompatible with its national law or its international obligations, it may take the necessary measures to ensure that there can be no access to the link from its national territory or by its authorities located outside its territory.

The Commission shall adopt implementing acts to lay down and develop technical rules for linking alerts. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 62(2).

Member States shall keep a reference to the decisions giving rise to an alert at the SIRENE Bureau in order to support the exchange of supplementary information.

Personal data held in files by the SIRENE Bureau as a result of information exchanged shall be kept only for such time as may be required to achieve the purposes for which they were supplied. They shall in any event be deleted at the latest one year after the related alert has been deleted from SIS.

Paragraph 2 shall be without prejudice to the right of a Member State to keep in national files data relating to a particular alert which that Member State has entered or to an alert in connection with which action has been taken on its territory. The period for which such data may be kept in those files shall be governed by national law.

Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 shall apply to the processing of personal data by eu-LISA and by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency under this Regulation. Regulation (EU) 2016/794 shall apply to the processing of personal data by Europol under this Regulation.

Regulation (EU) 2016/679 shall apply to the processing of personal data under this Regulation by the competent authorities referred to in Article 34 of this Regulation with the exception of processing for the purposes of the prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution of criminal offences or the execution of criminal penalties, including the safeguarding against and the prevention of threats to public security where Directive (EU) 2016/680 applies.

Third-country nationals who are the subject of an alert in SIS shall be informed of this in accordance with Articles 13 and 14 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 or Articles 12 and 13 of Directive (EU) 2016/680. This information shall be provided in writing, together with a copy of or a reference to the national decision giving rise to the alert, as referred to in Article 24(1) of this Regulation.

This information shall not be provided where national law allows for the right of information to be restricted, in particular in order to safeguard national security, defence, public security, and the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of criminal offences.

Data subjects shall be able to exercise the rights laid down in Articles 15, 16 and 17 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and in Article 14 and Article 16(1) and (2) of Directive (EU) 2016/680.

A Member State other than the issuing Member State may provide to the data subject information concerning any of the data subject's personal data that are being processed, only if it first gives the issuing Member State an opportunity to state its position. The communication between those Member States shall be done through the exchange of supplementary information.

A Member State shall take a decision not to provide information to the data subject, in whole or in part, in accordance with national law, to the extent that, and for as long as such a partial or complete restriction constitutes a necessary and proportionate measure in a democratic society with due regard for the fundamental rights and legitimate interests of the data subject concerned, in order to:

Following an application for access, rectification or erasure, the Member State shall inform the data subject as soon as possible and in any event within the deadlines referred to in Article 12(3) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 about the follow-up given to the exercise of the rights under this Article, regardless of whether the data subject is in a third country or not.

Without prejudice to the provisions on remedies of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and of Directive (EU) 2016/680, any person may bring an action before any competent authority, including a court, under the law of any Member State to access, rectify, erase, obtain information or obtain compensation in connection with an alert relating to him or her.

The Member States undertake mutually to enforce final decisions handed down by the courts or authorities referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, without prejudice to Article 58.

Member States shall report annually to the European Data Protection Board on:

The reports from the Member States shall be included in the joint report referred to in Article 57(4).

Member States shall ensure that the independent supervisory authorities designated in each Member State and endowed with the powers referred to in Chapter VI of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 or Chapter VI of Directive (EU) 2016/680 monitor the lawfulness of the processing of personal data in SIS on their territory, its transmission from their territory and the exchange and further processing of supplementary information on their territory.

The supervisory authorities shall ensure that an audit of the data processing operations in its N.SIS is carried out in accordance with international auditing standards at least every four years. The audit shall either be carried out by the supervisory authorities, or the supervisory authorities shall directly order the audit from an independent data protection auditor. The supervisory authorities shall at all times retain control over and undertake the responsibilities of the independent auditor.

Member States shall ensure that their supervisory authorities have sufficient resources to fulfil the tasks entrusted to them under this Regulation and have access to advice from persons with sufficient knowledge of biometric data.

The European Data Protection Supervisor shall be responsible for monitoring the processing of personal data by eu-LISA and for ensuring that it is carried out in accordance with this Regulation. The tasks and powers referred to in Articles 57 and 58 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 shall apply accordingly.

The European Data Protection Supervisor shall carry out an audit of the processing of personal data by eu-LISA in accordance with international auditing standards at least every four years. A report on that audit shall be sent to the European Parliament, to the Council, to eu-LISA, to the Commission and to the supervisory authorities. eu-LISA shall be given an opportunity to make comments before the report is adopted.

The supervisory authorities and the European Data Protection Supervisor, each acting within the scope of their respective competences, shall actively cooperate within the framework of their responsibilities and shall ensure coordinated supervision of SIS.

The supervisory authorities and the European Data Protection Supervisor shall, each acting within the scope of their respective competences, exchange relevant information, assist each other in carrying out audits and inspections, examine difficulties in the interpretation or application of this Regulation and other applicable Union legal acts, study problems that are revealed through the exercise of independent supervision or through the exercise of the rights of data subjects, draw up harmonised proposals for joint solutions to any problems and promote awareness of data protection rights, as necessary.

For the purposes laid down in paragraph 2, the supervisory authorities and the European Data Protection Supervisor shall meet at least twice a year as part of the European Data Protection Board. The costs and servicing of these meetings shall be borne by the European Data Protection Board. Rules of procedure shall be adopted at the first meeting. Further working methods shall be developed jointly as necessary.

A joint report of activities as regards coordinated supervision shall be sent annually by the European Data Protection Board to the European Parliament, to the Council, and to the Commission.

Without prejudice to the right to compensation and to any liability under Regulation (EU) 2016/679, Directive (EU) 2016/680 and Regulation (EU) 2018/1725:

If any failure of a Member State to comply with its obligations under this Regulation causes damage to SIS, that Member State shall be held liable for such damage, unless and insofar as eu-LISA or another Member State participating in SIS failed to take reasonable measures to prevent the damage from occurring or to minimise its impact.

Claims for compensation against a Member State for the damage referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be governed by the national law of that Member State. Claims for compensation against eu-LISA for the damage referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be subject to the conditions provided for in the Treaties.

eu-LISA shall ensure that procedures are in place to monitor the functioning of SIS against objectives relating to output, cost-effectiveness, security and quality of service.

For the purposes of technical maintenance, reporting, data quality reporting and statistics, eu-LISA shall have access to the necessary information relating to the processing operations performed in Central SIS.

eu-LISA shall produce daily, monthly and annual statistics showing the number of records per category of alerts, both for each Member State and in aggregate. eu-LISA shall also provide annual reports on the number of hits per category of alert, how many times SIS was searched and how many times SIS was accessed for the purpose of entering, updating or deleting an alert, both for each Member State and in aggregate. Such statistics shall include statistics on the exchanges of information under Article 27 to Article 31. The statistics produced shall not contain any personal data. The annual statistical report shall be published.

Member States, Europol and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency shall provide eu-LISA and the Commission with the information necessary to draft the reports referred to in paragraphs 3, 5, 7 and 8.

eu-LISA shall provide the European Parliament, the Council, the Member States, the Commission, Europol, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency and the European Data Protection Supervisor with any statistical reports that it produces.

For the purpose of Article 15(4) and of paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 of this Article, eu-LISA shall store data referred to in Article 15(4) and in paragraph 3 of this Article which shall not allow for the identification of individuals in the central repository for reporting and statistics referred to in Article 39 of Regulation (EU) 2019/817.

Two years after the date of application of this Regulation pursuant to the first subparagraph of Article 66(5) and every two years thereafter, eu-LISA shall submit to the European Parliament and to the Council a report on the technical functioning of Central SIS and of the Communication Infrastructure, including their security, on the AFIS and on the bilateral and multilateral exchange of supplementary information between Member States. This report shall also contain, once the technology is in use, an evaluation of the use of facial images to identify persons.

Three years after the date of application of this Regulation pursuant to the first subparagraph of Article 66(5) and every four years thereafter, the Commission shall carry out an overall evaluation of Central SIS and the bilateral and multilateral exchange of supplementary information between Member States. That overall evaluation shall include an examination of results achieved against objectives, and an assessment of the continuing validity of the underlying rationale, the application of this Regulation in respect of Central SIS, the security of Central SIS and any implications for future operations. The evaluation report shall also include an assessment of the AFIS and the SIS information campaigns carried out by the Commission in accordance with Article 19.

The Commission shall adopt implementing acts to lay down detailed rules on the operation of the central repository referred to in paragraph 6 of this Article and the data protection and security rules applicable to that repository. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 62(2).

The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article.

The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 33(4) shall be conferred on the Commission for an indeterminate period of time from 27 December 2018.

The delegation of power referred to in Article 33(4) may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.

Before adopting a delegated act, the Commission shall consult experts designated by each Member State in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making.

As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.

A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 33(4) shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.

The Commission shall be assisted by a committee. That committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011.

Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.

Each Member State shall be responsible for setting up, operating, maintaining and further developing its N.SIS II and connecting it to NI-SIS.

Each Member State shall be responsible for ensuring the uninterrupted availability of SIS II data to end-users.’;

Each Member State shall apply its rules of professional secrecy or other equivalent duties of confidentiality to all persons and bodies required to work with SIS II data and supplementary information, in accordance with its national legislation. This obligation shall also apply after those people leave office or employment or after the termination of the activities of those bodies.

Where a Member State cooperates with external contractors in any SIS II-related tasks, it shall closely monitor the activities of the contractor to ensure compliance with all provisions of this Regulation, in particular on security, confidentiality and data protection.

The operational management of N.SIS II or of any technical copies shall not be entrusted to private companies or private organisations.’;

The operational management of CS-SIS shall not be entrusted to private companies or private organisations.’;

Photographs and fingerprints shall only be entered following a special quality check to ascertain whether they fulfil minimum data quality standards. The specification of the special quality check shall be established in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 51(2).

Where photographs and fingerprint data are available in an alert in SIS II, such photographs and fingerprint data shall be used to confirm the identity of a person who has been located as a result of an alphanumeric search made in SIS II.

Fingerprint data may be searched in all cases to identify a person. However, fingerprint data shall be searched to identify a person where the identity of the person cannot be ascertained by other means. For that purpose, the Central SIS II shall contain an Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS).

Fingerprint data in SIS II in relation to alerts entered in accordance with Articles 24 and 26 may also be searched using complete or incomplete sets of fingerprints discovered at the scenes of serious crimes or terrorist offences under investigation, where it can be established to a high degree of probability that those sets of prints belong to a perpetrator of the offence and provided that the search is carried out simultaneously in the Member State's relevant national fingerprints databases.’;

Alerts on third-country nationals who are the subject of a restrictive measure intended to prevent entry into or transit through the territory of Member States taken in accordance with legal acts adopted by the Council, including measures implementing a travel ban issued by the Security Council of the United Nations, shall, insofar as data-quality requirements are satisfied, be entered into SIS II for the purpose of refusing entry and stay.

The alerts shall be entered, kept up-to-date and deleted by the competent authority of the Member State which holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union at the time of the adoption of the measure. If that Member State does not have access to SIS II or to alerts entered in accordance with this Regulation, the responsibility shall be taken up by the Member State which holds the subsequent Presidency and which has access to SIS II, including to alerts entered in accordance with this Regulation.

The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol), established by Regulation (EU) 2016/794 of the European Parliament and of the Council ([^E0009]), shall, where necessary to fulfil its mandate, have the right to access and search data in SIS II. Europol may also exchange and further request supplementary information in accordance with the provisions of the SIRENE Manual.

Where a search by Europol reveals the existence of an alert in SIS II, Europol shall inform the issuing Member State through the exchange of supplementary information by means of the Communication Infrastructure and in accordance with the provisions set out in the SIRENE Manual. Until Europol is able to use the functionalities intended for the exchange of supplementary information, it shall inform issuing Member States through the channels defined by Regulation (EU) 2016/794.

Europol may process the supplementary information that has been provided to it by Member States for the purposes of comparing it with its databases and operational analysis projects, aimed at identifying connections or other relevant links and for the strategic, thematic or operational analyses referred to in points (a), (b) and (c) of Article 18(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/794. Any processing by Europol of supplementary information for the purpose of this Article shall be carried out in accordance with that Regulation.

Europol's use of information obtained from a search in SIS II or from the processing of supplementary information shall be subject to the consent of the issuing Member State. If the Member State allows the use of such information, its handling by Europol shall be governed by Regulation (EU) 2016/794. Europol shall only communicate such information to third countries and third bodies with the consent of the issuing Member State and in full compliance with Union law on data protection.

Europol shall:

Europol shall only copy data from SIS II for technical purposes where such copying is necessary in order for duly authorised Europol staff to carry out a direct search. This Regulation shall apply to such copies. The technical copy shall only be used for the purpose of storing SIS II data whilst those data are searched. Once the data have been searched they shall be deleted. Such uses shall not be considered to be unlawful downloading or copying of SIS II data. Europol shall not copy alert data or additional data issued by Member States or from CS-SIS II into other Europol systems.

For the purpose of verifying the lawfulness of data processing, self-monitoring and ensuring proper data security and integrity, Europol shall keep logs of every access to and search in SIS II in accordance with the provisions of Article 12. Such logs and documentation shall not be considered to be unlawful downloading or copying of part of SIS II.

Member States shall inform Europol through the exchange of supplementary information of any hit on alerts related to terrorist offences. Member States may exceptionally not inform Europol if doing so would jeopardise current investigations, the safety of an individual or be contrary to essential interests of the security of the issuing Member State.

Paragraph 8 shall apply from the date that Europol is able to receive supplementary information in accordance with paragraph 1.

In accordance with Article 40(8) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1624 of the European Parliament and of the Council ([^E0010]), the members of the teams referred to in points (8) and (9) of Article 2 of that Regulation shall, within their mandate and provided that they are authorised to carry out checks in accordance with Article 27(1) of this Regulation and have received the required training in accordance with Article 14 of this Regulation, have the right to access and search data in SIS II insofar it is necessary for the performance of their task and as required by the operational plan for a specific operation. Access to data in SIS II shall not be extended to any other team members.

Members of the teams referred to in paragraph 1 shall exercise the right to access and search data in SIS II in accordance with paragraph 1 through a technical interface. The technical interface shall be set up and maintained by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency and shall allow direct connection to Central SIS II.

Where a search by a member of the teams referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article reveals the existence of an alert in SIS II, the issuing Member State shall be informed thereof. In accordance with Article 40 of Regulation (EU) 2016/1624, members of the teams shall only act in response to an alert in SIS II under instructions from and, as a general rule, in the presence of border guards or staff involved in return-related tasks of the host Member State in which they are operating. The host Member State may authorise members of the teams to act on its behalf.

For the purpose of verifying the lawfulness of data processing, self-monitoring and ensuring proper data security and integrity, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency shall keep logs of every access to and search in SIS II in accordance with the provisions of Article 12.

The European Border and Coast Guard Agency shall adopt and apply measures to ensure security, confidentiality and self-monitoring in accordance with Articles 10, 11 and 13 and shall ensure that the teams referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article apply those measures.

Nothing in this Article shall be interpreted as affecting the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2016/1624 concerning data protection or the European Border and Coast Guard Agency's liability for any unauthorised or incorrect processing of data by it.

Without prejudice to paragraph 2, no parts of SIS II shall be connected to any system for data collection and processing operated by the teams referred to in paragraph 1 or by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, nor shall the data in SIS II to which those teams have access be transferred to such a system. No part of SIS II shall be downloaded or copied. The logging of access and searches shall not be considered to be unlawful downloading or copying of SIS II data.

The European Border and Coast Guard Agency shall allow the European Data Protection Supervisor to monitor and review the activities of the teams referred to in this Article in the exercise of their right to access and search data in SIS II. This shall be without prejudice to the further provisions of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council ([^E0011]).

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

No later than 28 December 2021, the Commission shall adopt a decision setting the date on which SIS operations start pursuant to this Regulation, after verification that the following conditions have been met:

The Commission shall closely monitor the process of gradual fulfilment of the conditions set out in paragraph 2 and shall inform the European Parliament and the Council about the outcome of the verification referred to in that paragraph.

By 28 December 2019 and every year thereafter until the decision of the Commission referred to in paragraph 2 has been taken, the Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament and to the Council on the state of play of preparations for the full implementation of this Regulation. That report shall contain also detailed information about the costs incurred and information as to any risks which may impact the overall costs.

This Regulation shall apply from the date determined in accordance with paragraph 2.

The Commission decision referred to in paragraph 2 shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.