The following fundamental standards that underpin the cooperation via SIRENE shall be met:
A National SIRENE bureau shall be set up by each of the Member States to serve as a single contact point for the Member States applying the SIS-related provisions of the Schengen Convention. It shall be fully operational with sufficient capacity 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Availability for technical analysis, support and solutions shall also be provided with sufficient capacity 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Each SIRENE bureau shall build an internal structure, which guarantees the continuity of management, staff and technical infrastructure. Member States shall take appropriate measures to avoid loss of qualification and experience caused by staff turnover.
The Heads of each SIRENE bureau shall meet at least twice a year to assess the quality of the cooperation between their services, to adopt necessary technical or organisational measures in the event of any difficulties and to adjust procedures where required.
Physical and organisational security features are necessary to protect the SIRENE bureau premises. The specific measures will be determined by and be dependant on the results of threat assessments that shall be carried out by each Schengen State. Recommendations and best practices laid down in the EU Schengen Catalogue: Schengen Information System, SIRENE, should be reflected in practice(1).
The specific features may differ as they shall answer to threats in the immediate surroundings and exact location of the SIRENE bureau. They may include, in particular:
external windows fitted with security glass,
secured and closed doors,
brick/concrete walls enclosing the SIRENE bureau,
closed-circuit television (CCTV), intrusion alarms, including logging of entries, exits and any unusual event,
security guards on site or rapidly available,
fire extinction system and/or direct link to fire brigade,
dedicated premises to avoid staff who are not involved in international police cooperation measures, or who do not have requisite access to documents from having to enter or to pass the SIRENE bureau offices, and/or
sufficient back-up power and communication supply.
The principles underlying the security of the system are set out in Article 118 of the Schengen Convention.
The SIRENE bureau system should have a back-up computer and data base system at a secondary site in case of a serious emergency at the SIRENE bureau.
In order to fulfil the requirement to provide supplementary information, the SIRENE staff shall have direct or indirect access to all relevant national information and expert advice.
The specific channel to use for SIRENE communications is the communication infrastructure for the Schengen environment (SISNET)(2). Only if this channel is not available, shall another, and given the circumstances the most appropriate, means of communication be determined on a case-by-case basis, according to technical possibilities and the security and quality requirements that the communication has to meet.
Written messages are divided into two categories: free text and standard forms. The latter shall respect the instructions set out in Annex 5. The B(3), C(4) and D(5) forms shall not be used any longer and are removed from Annex 5.
In order to achieve utmost efficiency in bilateral communication between SIRENE staff, a language familiar to both parties shall be used.
The SIRENE bureau shall answer all requests for information made by the other Member States via their SIRENE bureaux as soon as possible. In any event, a response shall be given within 12 hours. See also Section 2.16 on indication of urgency in SIRENE forms.
Priorities in daily work shall be based on the type of the alert and the importance of the case.
The SIRENE bureau should use the dedicated SISNET e-mail address for the exchange of non-operational information.
The contact details of the SIRENE bureaux and relevant information for mutual communication and cooperation are collected and provided in the SIRENE Address Book (SAB). Each SIRENE bureau shall ensure that:
information from the SAB is not disclosed to third parties;
the SAB is known and used by the SIRENE operators;
any update of the information listed in the SAB is provided without delay to the administrator of the SAB.
Transliteration rules, which can be found in Annex 2, shall be followed in the communication between SIRENE bureaux via SISNET.
It is the responsibility of each SIRENE bureau to perform the role of data quality assurance coordinator for the information that is introduced in the SIS. To this end SIRENE bureaux shall have the necessary national competence and capacity to perform this role, for which they are responsible pursuant to Article 92(4) and Article 108. It is therefore necessary to have a national data quality audit, including a review of the rate of alerts/hits and of data content.
National standards for training of end-users on data quality principles and practice should be established in cooperation with the national SIRENE bureau. It is recommended that SIRENE bureaux be involved in the training of all authorities entering alerts, stressing data quality and maximisation of the use of the SIS.
All national agencies, including SIRENE bureaux, responsible for international police cooperation shall be organised in a structured fashion so as to prevent conflicts of competence and duplication of work.
Detailed guidance on IT security measures is provided in Section 5 of the revised EU Schengen Catalogue: Schengen Information System, SIRENE.
See Council Decision 2000/265/EC of 27 March 2000 on the establishment of a financial regulation governing the budgetary aspects of the management by the Deputy Secretary-General of the Council, of contracts concluded in his name, on behalf of certain Member States, relating to the installation and the functioning of the communication infrastructure for the Schengen environment, ‘SISNET’ (OJ L 85, 6.4.2000, p. 12).
Information further to an alert regarding national security.
Checking for a double alert on the same person.
Checking for a double alert on the same vehicle.