Brussels, 30/11/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 30 November, the Council of the EU took note of recent developments in the Visa Information System (VIS) and the Schengen Information System. Commissioner Jacques Barrot stated that the VIS will finally be operational in December 2010, as long as the national systems are ready. So far, only Greece is lagging behind. In the framework of the development of the SIS II, he said that he had obtained a contractual agreement (with HP/Steria), whereby the Commission reserves the right immediately to terminate the contract in place with the consortium if the test (milestone) system, scheduled for the end of January, is a failure. After this test, the Council will have two months to decide whether to continue normal development phase of SIS II or to move to an alternative system. (B.C./transl.fl)