ECA: Schengen IT system ‘six years late and eight times over budget’

19 May 14

The IT system underpinning border and customs controls across the European Union’s Schengen area was delivered more than six years later and at eight times over its initial budget estimate, auditors said today

By Judith Ugwumadu | 19 May 2014

A report from the European Court of Auditors said the European Commission had failed to demonstrate that procurement of the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) was value for money. Management weaknesses were cited as a key reason behind the budget and timetable overruns.

‘The initial indicative estimates of costs to the European Union budget for the central system significantly underestimated the true scale of the investment necessary,’ stated the Lessons from the European Commission’s development of the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) report.

It added that the full cost of SIS II amounted to €189m for the central system to which should be added an estimate of more than €330m for national systems.

The auditors also noted that that main benefit initially expected from SIS II became less relevant following the successful extension of SIS 1 to new member countries.

Pietro Russo, the ECA member responsible for the report, said: ‘In 2001, the EU Council charged the commission with the development of a new version of the Schengen Information System.

‘However, the initial deadline was unrealistic and the commission did not at first allocate sufficient staff with the expertise to the project. Therefore the commission was able to manage the main development contract effectively only from 2009.

‘In addition, the commission did not sufficiently draw on the experience of end-users and system requirements changed during the first part of the project.’

The SIS is used by border guards, police, customs, visa and judicial authorities throughout the Schengen area, which covers the 26 European countries that have agreed to dispense with passport and other types of controls between their common borders.

The ECA suggested that when managing the development of large-scale IT systems, the commission should: base the timetable on a technical analysis of the task to be performed; ensure that all projects are integrated into corporate IT governance arrangements and make full use of in-house expertise to manage the work of contractors effectively; and ensure that key projects are documented in a decision log so that they are easily traceable.