Brussels, 06/09/2007 (Agence Europe) - The new EU member states are now connected to the Schengen database, the Schengen information System (SIS), the European Commission announced on Tuesday. Connecting to the SIS was one of the two conditions for their entry into the border-free area. The second condition is a favourable assessment of security at the new member states' external borders. The ten states which joined the EU in 2004 (apart from Cyprus, which will join the Schengen group at some later stage) have been connected to the Schengen Information System since 1 September, said the Commission spokesman. The SIS, which contains around 17 million pieces of data, can provide police with information on persons, objects or vehicles being sought, or indicate to a police officer the procedure to be followed (for example, the arrest) when an individual is being checked. The current 15 members of the Schengen area (the 15 “old” member states, apart from the United Kingdom and Ireland, plus Norway and Iceland) will decide in November whether or not to lift border checks on travellers coming from the new member states at land borders on 31 December and at airports at the end of March 2008. (bc)