The Act on the Interoperability of the European Union’s Information Systems circulated for comments

The Ministry of the Interior is circulating for comments a draft government proposal for the Act on the Interoperability of the European Union’s Information Systems. The Act would enable the police, Finnish Customs and the Finnish Border Guard to make queries in the common identity repository of the European Union’s information systems for the purpose of identifying a person.

The purpose of the proposal is to implement the changes required by EU regulations concerning the interoperability of the European Union’s information systems in national legislation. The grounds for queries have been provided for in EU regulations that took effect in 2019.

The goal is to ensure interoperable information systems on the EU level

The goals of the EU regulations include simplifying the Member States’ authorities’ access to data, protecting the EU’s external borders, improving the management of migration, and increasing internal security. 

The EU regulations on interoperability concern the following EU-level information systems:
•    EU Visa Information System
•    European system for the comparison of fingerprints of asylum applicants
•    Schengen Information System
•    Entry/Exit System
•    European Travel Information and Authorisation System
•    Centralised system for the identification of Member States holding conviction information on third-country nationals and stateless persons.

The systems supplement each other and, apart from the Schengen Information System, store only data on third-country nationals. 

The circulation for comments on the proposed decree will end on 11 August.

Additional information:
Hannele Taavila, Police Director, tel. +358 295 488 568, [email protected]