Brussels, 02/04/2007 (Agence Europe) - Portugal has said that on 27 May, nine countries will get a computer system that will enable them to open up their borders when the Schengen area is extended again at the end of 2007. The “SISone4all” system, developed by the Portuguese authorities and the Critical Software company is being made available to Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland and the Czech Republic. During a ceremony attended by ministers from the nine countries in Lisbon, the Portuguese prime minister declared: “With the 'SISone4all', in a way, the Portuguese presidency of the EU started again”. Mr Socrates added: “Nothing reinforces the credibility and trust of citizens in the European Union more than the accomplishment of the freedom of circulation project”. The enlargement of the Schengen area to countries that joined the EU in 2004 (except for Cyprus), as well as Switzerland, is expected to take place at the end of December 2007 with the lifting of land and sea border controls; air border controls will be got rid of at the end of March 2008. The green light, however, allowing for an expansion in the Schengen area, will formally depend on a positive assessment of the capacity of these countries to control their external borders, as well as their ability to integrate into the computer data base used by all Schengen countries - “Schengen Information System” (SIS1), which links their authorities (policy, gendarmes, legal and customs services). The “SISone4all” is a software system that will enable new member states to join SIS1. The European Commission will carry out a final assessment in mid 2007 to find out whether security standards have been respected. The final decision to get rid of the borders is expected at the beginning of December at the latest. Following his visit to Portugal, the Czech minister of the interior, Ivan Langer, said that his country would begin the test phase for SISone4all in April and hoped that it would be ready on 1 September. Poland indicated that it thought completion of programme implementation would be for the end of August 2007. (bc)