LEGISLATIVE ACT: Commission Decision 2006/758/EC on amending the Sirene Manual.

CONTENT: the Sirene Manual is a set of instructions to operators in the Sirene offices of each Member State which describes in detail the rules and procedures governing the exchange of supplementary information required for the implementation of certain provisions of the Convention of 1990 implementing the Schengen Agreement of 14 June 1985 on the gradual abolition of checks at common borders (the Schengen Convention).

This Decision states that for the purposes of matters falling within the scope of the EU Treaty, the Sirene Manual is replaced by the version in Annex 1 to this Decision. The Sirene Manual needed to be replaced for several reasons:

- the European arrest warrant (EAW) (see CNS/2001/0215 ) is the first concrete legal development in the field of criminal law implementing the principle of mutual recognition which abolishes formal extradition procedures between Member States in respect of persons who are fleeing from justice having been finally sentenced and speeds up extradition procedures in respect of persons suspected of having committed a crime. The European arrest warrant replaces all previous instruments concerning extradition between the Member States, including the provisions of Title III of the Schengen Convention concerning extradition. Most newly issued alerts pursuant to Article 95 of the Schengen Convention (persons wanted for arrest for extradition) will be accompanied by an EAW. The specific checks and working procedures necessary before each of these cases within and between the Sirene bureaux must be introduced and adapted in accordance with the requirements of the European arrest warrant;

- Council Decision 2005/211/JHA of 24 February 2005 concerning the introduction of some new functions for the Schengen Information System, including in the fight against terrorism (see CNS/2002/0813 ) introduced certain new functions with respect to the current version of the Schengen Information System (SIS), in particular as regards the provision of access to certain types of data entered into the SIS and the recording and transmissions of personal data. The working procedures within and between the Sirene bureaux should be adapted accordingly;

- the technical development of Sirpit (Sirene Picture Transfer) requires specific working procedures between the Sirene offices to enable them to exchange pictures and fingerprints electronically. These procedures are included in the revised version of the Sirene Manual;

- standards of working procedures, technical infrastructure, security and staff requirements of the Sirene offices have developed over time, but the Sirene Manual had not been amended since 1999. As a result, significant amendments were required, and given the extent of the necessary amendments to the provisions of the Sirene Manual, the text was replaced by a revised and up to date version.

This Decision constitutes the necessary basis for adopting the amendments of the Sirene Manual in respect of matters falling within the scope of the Treaty on European Union (EU Treaty). Commission Decision 2006/757/EC of 22 September 2006 on amending the Sirene Manual (see CNS/2003/0807 ) constitutes the necessary basis for adopting the amendments of the Sirene Manual in respect of matters falling within the scope of the Treaty establishing the European Community (EC Treaty). The fact that the basis necessary for adopting the revised Sirene Manual consists of two separate instruments does not affect the principle that the Manual constitutes one single Manual. Nevertheless, for the sake of clarity it should be reproduced in the Annexes to both Decisions.

Themes covered by the Manual :

The Schengen information systems and national sirenes. General procedures; Alerts; Statistics (once a year the Sirene bureaux will provide hit statistics covering all the articles and the types of alerts).

The United Kingdom and Ireland are taking part in this Decision, in accordance with Article 5 of the Protocol integrating the Schengen acquis into the framework of the European Union annexed to the EU Treaty and to the EC Treaty.

As regards Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, this Decision constitutes a development of provisions of the Schengen acquis within the meaning of the Agreement concluded by the Council of the European Union and these countries concerning the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis. The amendments shall therefore apply to them.

32006D0758
OJ L 317 16.11.2006, p. 0041-0080

Decision 2004/201
OJ L 064 02.03.2004, p. 0045-0047

T5-0391/2003
OJ C 077 26.03.2004, p. 0020-0052 E

T5-0391/2003

A5-0288/2003

A5-0288/2003

07180/2003
OJ C 082 05.04.2003, p. 0025-0026

07180/2003