(1)The Deputy Secretary-General of the Council was authorised by Decision 1999/870/ECnote and Decision 2007/149/ECnote to act, in the context of the integration of the Schengen acquis within the European Union, as representative of certain Member States for the purposes of concluding contracts relating to the installation and the functioning of the communication infrastructure for the Schengen environment (SISNET) and to manage such contracts, pending its migration to a communication infrastructure at the charge of the European Community.