Estonia garners unanimous support for shared IT center

TALLINN - EU member states Thursday gave unanimous approval to Estonia one of two member states that will host the EU's new IT center. Estonia submitted a joint tender with France to host the center.

"Our successful joint proposal is the result of good cooperation between these two countries," Estonian Interior Minister Marko Pomerants said.

The agency, which has been given the somewhat lengthy title of "Agency for the long‑term operational management of large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice", will act as a single overseer of the EU many computer systems. This includes systems such as Eurodac, a database of fingerprints, and the Schengen Information System (SIS), which stores data on visa applicants.

Formal approval of the agency bylaw in the European Parliament will take place in early 2011, and the agency will take over the administration of large IT systems in 2012.

The agency's headquarters will be in Tallinn, but the computers which store the databaseswill be in the French town of Strasbourg.