Brussels, 14/03/2008 (Agence Europe) - The data base of the Schengen zone (Schengen Information System - SIS) will not be made accessible to US authorities for lifting the visa obligation on Czech nationals travelling to the USA, Czech Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Alexandr Vondra said on Wednesday 12 March. Fears to the contrary had been voiced by European Commission President José Manuel Barroso for the Czech media. “This is nonsense. We have repeatedly said that as far as the Schengen databases are concerned, we will naturally not share them. The rules of the game are firmly fixed”, Vondra said during the opening of the EU-US ministerial troika held in Brdo Pri Kranju, Slovenia. During this meeting, the EU and US representatives agreed to continue talks to allow the states not covered by the American visa waiver programme to be part of it (EUROPE 9622). (B.C.)