
Article 1 
The specifications relevant to certain SIS II tests related to the Central SIS II, the communication infrastructure and the interactions between Central SIS II and the national systems (N.SIS II), in particular their scope and objectives, their requirements and their process shall be as set out in the Annex.
Article 2 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in the Member States in accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Community.Done at Brussels, 18 February 2008.
For the Council
The President
D. RUPEL
ANNEX
1. 
Certain SIS II tests referred to in this Regulation shall demonstrate that Central SIS II, the communication infrastructure and the interactions between Central SIS II and the national systems (N.SIS II) (except those of Bulgaria and Romania) work in accordance with the technical and functional requirements set out in the SIS II legal instruments.

These SIS II tests shall also demonstrate that Central SIS II, the communication infrastructure and the interactions between Central SIS II and the national systems (N.SIS II) can work in accordance with non-functional requirements such as robustness, availability and performance.

2. 
The sequence of tests, their objective, scope and organisation shall be articulated as follows.

The first phase of tests shall address testing of the connectivity and resilience of the SIS II communication infrastructure.

The second phase of tests shall address testing of the Central SIS II without N.SIS II.

The third phase of tests shall address testing of the Central SIS II with some N.SIS II and testing of the compliance of each national system with the specifications described in the reference version of the Interface Control Document (ICD).

The Test Advisory Group established by the SIS II Committee is competent to report on the results of the tests to the SIS II Committee. The Test Advisory Group shall identify, categorise and describe any issue it detects and propose options for solutions. The Commission services and the Member States’ experts shall provide all necessary information for the Test Advisory Group to perform its task.
 2.1. 
The Commission shall define the detailed specifications of the tests. The Commission shall make available to the Member States involved the draft and finalised test specifications and the provisions for the management and coordination of the tests within a schedule agreed with the Member States’ experts.
 2.2. 
All tests set out in the test documentation shall be coordinated by the Commission. For doing so the Commission shall work in close cooperation with the Test Advisory Group.
 2.3. 
The Commission shall execute the tests, together with the Member States involved on the basis of the test specifications and in accordance with the schedule agreed by the Commission together with Member States’ experts, and demonstrate that the test results are as foreseen in the test specifications.

For the N.SIS II compliance tests, each Member State, with the support of the Commission, shall be responsible for running and ensuring the smooth performance of the tests within the agreed schedule.
 2.4. 
The Test Advisory Group shall report on the results of certain SIS II tests to the SIS II Committee. The Test Advisory Group shall identify, categorise and describe any issue it detects and propose options for solutions. The Commission services and the Member States experts shall provide all necessary information for the Test Advisory Group to perform its task.

The Commission will decide on the successful completion of certain SIS II tests, taking into account the views expressed by Member States experts within the framework of SIS II Committee.

Where the tests documentation divides the tests into separate phases the Commission shall inform Member States of the results of each phase before the start of the following phase.

The acceptance of the N.SIS II compliance tests will be based on a report, prepared by an expert appointed by the Member States, containing a detailed analysis of the test results and conclusions as to the validation of the Member States’ national systems.

If a Member State considers that tests could not be successfully completed, this should be noted in the report.
 2.5. 
The objective of this test exercise shall be to demonstrate that the communication infrastructure of SIS II up to the uniform national interface (NI-SIS) can work in accordance with the requirements laid down in Decisions 2007/170/EC and 2007/171/EC. The scope of this test exercise includes testing the connectivity and the resilience of the SIS II communication infrastructure between CS-SIS and each NI-SIS, between the CS-SIS and backup CS-SIS as well as the resilience of the Local National Interfaces (LNI) and, where applicable, the Back-up Local National Interfaces (BLNI).
 2.6. 
The objective of the whole set of Central SIS II tests shall be to test that the Central SIS II meets the functional and non-functional specifications defined in the reference version of the ICD (Interface Control Document) and the DTS (Detailed Technical Specifications).

The objective of the N.SIS II Compliance test shall be to ensure the compatibility of each N.SIS II with the CS-SIS and to verify the compliance of the National Systems with the reference version of the Interface Control Document. The compliance tests for the N.SIS II may run in parallel with the tests of the Central SIS II.

After the successful completion of certain SIS II tests, the Commission shall inform Member States’ experts within the framework of the SIS II Committee that the test results of the communication infrastructure and of the Central SIS II tests are as foreseen in the test specifications.

After the successful completion of certain SIS II tests, the Commission shall set up a migration environment for the Central SIS II. This environment shall be stable and suitable to be used for migration.

3. 
The Central SIS II and the national systems (N.SIS II) in each of the Member States shall be tested against the same specifications.

The DTS prepared by the Commission shall define the functional and non-functional specifications of the Central SIS II.

The ICD prepared by the Commission shall define the interface between the Central SIS II and the national systems. It shall contain the technical specifications of the system-to-system interactions in terms of data items and messages passed, protocols used as well as timing and sequencing of events.

Specifications, as provided in the ICD and DTS, shall be stable for a given period and the timing of the update of both systems shall be laid down in a release plan that shall define the reference version for a given test phase. Issues found during the test campaigns shall be reported, analysed and solved in accordance with a release management plan and associated change management plan. The release management plan and associated change management plan shall be made available by the Commission, taking into account the opinion of Member States’ experts.

4. 
The Commission shall draw up, on a regular basis, reports on the status of the tests. The reports shall note which test phase is currently being dealt with and which Member States have completed, begun or not yet begun that phase. If any repercussions for the project timetable are noticeable, they and their cause should be recorded.

On conclusion of each test phase the Commission shall draw up a report on the results, any issue it detects and options for solutions. In cases where a Member State considers that tests could not be successfully completed it shall record this fact, stating the reasons, in a note for the minutes.
