With a view to strengthening the protection of all children falling under the scope of this Regulation, including unaccompanied minors who have not applied for international protection and children who might become separated from their families, it is also necessary to take biometric data for storage in Eurodac to help establish the identity of children and to assist Member States in tracing any of their family members in, or links they might have with, another Member State, as well as in tracing missing children, including for law enforcement purposes, by complementing the existing instruments, in particular the Schengen Information System (SIS) established by of the European Parliament and of the Council (28). Effective identification procedures will assist Member States in guaranteeing the adequate protection of children. Establishing family links is a key element in restoring family unity and must be closely linked to the determination of the best interests of the child and, eventually, the determination of a sustainable solution in accordance with national practices following a needs assessment by the competent national child protection authorities.
28. Regulation (EU) 2018/1862 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 November 2018 on the establishment, operation and use of the Schengen Information System (SIS) in the field of police cooperation and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, amending and repealing Council Decision 2007/533/JHA, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1986/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Decision 2010/261/EU (OJ L 312, 7.12.2018, p. 56). ↩︎