Code : BMVI-127-001
Project duration : 01/06/2025 – 31/05/2026
Budget : € 1.600.000,00 (€ 1.200.000 by BMVI & € 400.000 by the national budget)
Objectives & Context
In the context of the reinforcement of the European (external) borders (Schengen zone), the initiative was taken at the European level to create a number of databases that would allow better monitoring of entry and exit movements, travel authorizations, criminal records, biometric data, alerts and visa applications. These include the Entry/Exit system (EES), Visa Information System (VIS), the European Traveller Information & Authorization System (ETIAS), Schengen Information System (SIS), the European Criminal Records Information System - Third Country Nationals (ECRIS-TCN), Eurodac & Screening within the framework of the Migration Pact. There is also the interoperability project to make all these databases work together. This can be further captured under the heading of Smart Borders.
The project builds further on the current cycle. The project has already started. The ambition of the project is to respect the European Smart Borders timeline for the delivery of the MVPs, but also, after European go-live, to iteratively further develop and optimise the modules within the project according to the needs of the end users.
Objectives
- Participate in sharing and building information across different services and member states;
- Control entry and exit movements, travel authorizations, alerts, biometric data and visa applications.
- Improve the visibility of overstayers.
- Assist in identification of third-country nationals and fraud prevention.
- Screening of third-country nationals before entering the Schengen zone with a view to improving security and preventing risks in the territory.
- Exchange of data regarding convictions of third-country nationals and stateless persons.
Project methodology
The project is carried out according to an agile way of working with an iterative project approach. This means that the projects are divided into a whole series of smaller deliveries (sprints), allowing a first useful result to be delivered in a shorter time period that provides business value (= minimum viable product (MVP)). The MVP is then further developed by adding additional functionalities to the application. These allow the business to carry out its work more efficiently.
Concrete approach of the Smart Borders project: The focus is initially on the finalization of EES and the interoperability of VIS. After that the link with ETIAS will be added in the Smart Borders application. Next, the interoperability between these systems needs to be finalized and ECRIS-TCN, screening, Eurodac and the VIS Recast will also be addressed. Optimizations and further automation for the creation of alerts in SIS are also planned.
The following dates were set by Europe for the start of the different databases:
- EES partial Entry in Operation (EiO): 10/2025
- VIS Interoperability (IO) EiO: 05/2025 (Connection with EES op 10/2025)
- EES full EiO: 04/2026
- ETIAS EiO: Q4 2026
- VIS Recast: Q4 2027
- Interoperability: gradual roll-out over the coming 3 years
- SIS: incremental updates following changes due to EiO of other Smart Borders modules
(version 26th of February 2026)