Tallinn confirmed as EU IT agency center

TALLINN - The European Union Justice and Interior Issues Council meeting gave on June 9 the final approval to founding the EU’s IT agency, the Estonian Interior Ministry announced, reports Postimees Online. Starting next year, the EU internal security IT systems will be managed from Tallinn.

“Although the basic solution about the location of the agency was reached months ago, the compromise that was achieved today removed the last obstacles of the council to found the agency,” said Estonian Interior Minister Ken-Marti Vaher.
“Information systems are irreplaceable in guaranteeing security. In today’s circumstances, delays in founding the IT agency would endanger achieving our common aims in guaranteeing Europe’s internal security,” he added.
Now the decree of founding the agency has to be approved by the European Parliament, and then again by the council. The agency could then start working at the beginning of 2012.
The head office of the agency would be in Tallinn, data centers in Strasbourg in France and Sankt Johann im Pongau in Austria.

The European Union’s IT agency that will be located in Tallinn will have 50-600 high-paid staff members, of which next year over 10 will be employed, reports Aripaev. Interior Ministry Internal Security Deputy Chancellor Erkki Koort said that in similar EU agencies, 50-600 people work, but the exact size of each agency depends on its manager and the vision of member states on how many specialists should protect EU cyber security.

Since Estonia will only house the management center of the IT agency, a part of the agency’s staff will live in Strasbourg and Sankt Johann im Pongau, where servers will be located.
Koort pointed out that among the benefits for the state from the IT agency being located here are the strengthening of Estonia’s image as an IT state, the increasing attractiveness among international corporations, the growth of private consumption and airline transport volumes.

Koort added that Estonians can compete for jobs in the IT agency management center too, but the head of the agency has to come from somewhere else.