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In 2011, with the adoption of the Basic Regulation, an agency under the European Union  (EU) was set up: European Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (eu-LISA). The agency became operational in December 2012 and was headquartered in Tallinn, with Strasbourg as its main location and Sank Johann im Pongau as the location of its back-up systems. eu-LISA’s main task was the management of large-scale internal security IT systems important for the European Union. 

This policy paper, written by Diana Marnot, briefly introduces the nature of EU agencies and summarizes the process of applying for eu-LISA. What were Estonia’s goals in applying for it? Nine years later, can it be said that these objectives have been met? Given that this is an agency that manages systems that are critical for the EU, is it possible for Estonia to further strengthen its position there? The policy paper is based mainly on two interviews. The first of these has been done with Kristo Põllu, the negotiator of the Agency’s first basic regulation, who at that time worked as a professional diplomat at the Estonian Permanent Representation of the Ministry of the Interior to the EU and was the Deputy Head of EU-CYBERNET at the time of writing the analysis. The second interview was conducted with Uku Särekanno, who at the time of writing of the analysis is working as the head of the European IT Agency’s support unit, coordinating the implementation of new large-scale databases in the Schengen area. Põllu gives an overview of the beginning of the Agency and Särekanno introduces the current state of the Agency and Estonia’s future opportunities. Based on these interviews, joint recommendations will emerge to improve Estonia’s position in the future of the EU Agency.