To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 10 March 1999, Official Report, columns 267–68, if the National Criminal Intelligence Service can access the Schengen Information System without the unanimous agreement of the Schengen states. [77165]

Direct access to the Schengen Information System (SIS) by the National Criminal Intelligence Service and other law enforcement agencies could be secured only if the United Kingdom was a member of the SIS. The SIS is part of the Schengen acquis, which will be incorporated into the European Union on the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam. In accordance with be paid only in cases of maladministration where the costs are reasonable and have been actually and necessarily incurred: each case will be treated on its merits.