General information
The EU has set up a number of large European information systems and agencies, the supervision of which is shared between national data protection authorities and the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS). The EDPS and national data protection authorities, each acting within the scope of their competences, shall cooperate actively within the framework of their responsibilities to ensure effective supervision of large-scale IT systems and of Union bodies, offices and agencies.
National supervisory authorities and the EDPS cooperate to ensure coordinated supervision. For this purpose, they shall meet regularly – a several times a year – to discuss common issues related to supervision. Within their respective powers and as part of their duties, they exchange relevant information as needed, assist in conducting audits and inspections, examine difficulties related to the interpretation or application of Union acts in the field of personal data protection, examine issues related to the exercise of independent oversight or the exercise of data subjects’ rights, develop harmonized proposals for resolving any issues, and promote awareness of data protection rights.
Custom information system (CIS)
The purpose of CIS is to assist Member States in preventing, investigating and prosecuting serious violations of national and EU customs and agricultural laws. The information contained in CIS comprises of personal data related to commodities, means of transport, businesses, persons, goods and cash retained, seized or confiscated. This information may be used solely for the purposes of sighting, reporting or carrying out particular inspections or for strategic or operational analyses concerning persons suspected of breaching customs provisions.
The coordinated supervision is made under The Customs Information System Supervision Coordination Group.
EES
The Entry/Exit System (EES) is an automated information system used to register third-country nationals travelling for short stays each time they cross the external borders of any of the European countries using the system. It is intended to replace passport stamps with a digital system, make border checks more efficient and faster, and enhance the security of the Schengen area. For the purposes of the EES, a “third-country national” is a traveller who is not a national of any European Union country, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland. A “short stay” means a stay of up to 90 days within any 180-day period. This period is calculated as a single period for all European countries using the EES.
Coordinated supervision is carried out within the framework of the Coordinated Supervision Committee.
EPPO
EPPO is the independent public prosecution office of the European Union. It is empowered to investigate, prosecute and bring charges for offences against the financial interests of the EU, such as cross-border VAT fraud involving damage exceeding EUR 10 million, money laundering, corruption and embezzlement relating to EU funds. The EPPO's investigations are aimed at ensuring close coordination of investigations and prosecutions within national legal systems, in cooperation with European Delegated Prosecutors in the Member State concerned. The EPPO acts as a prosecutor before the competent courts of the Member States. The EPPO must ensure, to the greatest extent possible, the processing and protection of data for law enforcement purposes, including distinguishing between personal data relating to different categories of data subjects, such as persons convicted of a criminal offence, persons merely suspected of an offence, victims and witnesses.
The coordinated supervision is made under Coordinated Supervision Committee.
Eurodac
Eurodac stands for European Dactyloscopy. It is a centralised system that contains the fingerprint data of third-country nationals and stateless persons who apply for asylum in one of the EU Member States. Its purpose is primarily to assist in determining which Member State should be responsible for examining a particular asylum application.
The coordinated supervision is made under Eurodac Supervision Coordination Group.
European union agency for criminal justice coorperation (EUROJUST)
Eurojust, set up in 2002, is an EU body headquartered in The Hague. It promotes judicial cooperation in investigations and prosecutions relating to serious crime concerning at least two Member States. Eurojust is competent to: stimulate and improve coordination of investigations and prosecutions between the competent authorities of the various Member States; and facilitate the execution of requests and decisions relating to judicial cooperation.
The coordinated supervision is made under Coordinated Supervision Committee.
Europol
Europol, the EU’s law enforcement agency, is headquartered in The Hague, with Europol National Units (ENUs) in each Member State. The objective of Europol is to assist in preventing and investigating organised crime, terrorism and other forms of serious crime affecting two or more Member States. It achieves this objective through the exchange of information and the activities of the EU information hub, which provides intelligence analyses and threat assessments. The Europol Information System may be used to make available data relating to persons suspected or accused of having committed a criminal offence falling within Europol’s area of competence, or persons in respect of whom there are concrete indications that they may commit such offences.
The coordinated supervision is made under Coordinated Supervision Committee.
Internal market information system (IMI)
IMI is a secure, multilingual online tool that facilitates the Exchange of information between public authorities involved in the implementation of EU law. IMI helps authorities to fulfil their cross-border administrative cooperation obligations in multiple Single Market policy areas.
The coordinated supervision is made under Coordinated Supervision Committee.
The Coordinated Supervision Committee has prepared documents on transparency (recommendations on transparency and the obligation to provide information) for controllers—the competent authorities for IMI—which can be found on the EDPB website:
IMI Reports - Coordinated Supervision Committee | European Data Protection Board
Schengen information system (SIS)
The SIS is a large-scale information system operated within the Schengen area (i.e. in most EU countries and countries associated with the Schengen area) with the aim of enabling and facilitating cooperation and the exchange of data on persons and objects between the competent national authorities and EU bodies for specific purposes in the areas of border control, immigration, asylum and other policies relating to the free movement of persons.
The SIS lays down the conditions and procedures for entering alerts on persons and objects and for exchanging information for the purposes of refusing entry and residence to third-country nationals in the territory of the Member States, for the purposes of returning third-country nationals, and for police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters.
An alert entered in the SIS is available in real time in all countries using the SIS. The purpose of the SIS is to ensure a high level of security in an area without internal borders, including maintaining public security and public order and safeguarding security within the territory of the Member States.
The coordinated supervision is made under Coordinated Supervision Committee.
Visa information system (VIS)
The VIS was established to support the implementation of a common EU visa policy. The VIS allows Schengen states to exchange data concerning visa applicants through a fully centralised system which connects the consulates and embassies of the Schengen states situated in non-EU countries with the external border-crossing points of all Schengen states. The VIS processes data regarding applications for short-stay visas to visit or to transit through the Schengen area. The VIS enables border authorities to verify, with the help of biometric attributes, notably fingerprints, whether or not the person presenting a visa is its rightful holder and to identify persons with no or fraudulent documents.
The coordinated supervision is made under Visa Information System Supervision Coordination Group.
Information on this website are mostly from: Handbook on European data protection law, 2018