18/01/2017 (Agence Europe) – In a proposal to the Council of the EU on Wednesday 18 January, the European Commission called for Croatia’s membership of the Schengen Information System (SIS) to be phased in. This information exchange system is used to manage Europe’s borders and make them secure. In a press release, the institution explained that, “closer co-operation with Croatia and other member states and countries involved in Schengen will help to find people being pursued for criminal activities, as well as missing persons and objects, such as stolen vehicles and documents”. On the basis of the Schengen assessment process, Croatia has met the technical and legal requirements and can subsequently begin the gradual process for it to participate in the system. At this current juncture, Croatia is only able to use the SIS as part of police cooperation operations. (SP)