Today eu-LISA reached another important milestone, which will allow the Agency to efficiently fulfil its tasks and continue to create and build, through digital technologies, next generation services in justice and home affairs realms for the benefit of citizens.
The formalisation of land transfer of the 19 192 m² plot adjacent to its current building-complex, the purpose of which is to host the extension of the Agency's operational site in Strasbourg, was completed between the French authorities and the Agency. Members of the European Parliament and representatives of Eurometropol, the Strasbourg City Magistrate and the French Ministry of the Interior attended the ceremony in which the signatures were exchanged between Mr Josine CHEVALIER, Prefect of Grand Est and Mr Krum GARKOV, the Executive Director of eu-LISA.
The formal handover has been planned since the beginning of 2020, while the extension itself is a multi-annual project and is expected to be finalised in the first half of 2026.
"eu-LISA has been a part of the Strasbourg landscape since the beginning of existence of the Agency. Today, the close relations and cooperation that eu-LISA has enjoyed with the French National and Local Authorities and the EU Institutions have reached a notable milestone. The transfer of land from the French State to eu-LISA ownership is a generous contribution from the French authorities to the future of eu-LISA. It is a clear and tangible demonstration of the values on which EU has been built.
At the same time, it is also an important part of to the digital future of Schengen. eu-LISA will not simply manage more systems from here. With the extension of its operational site in Strasbourg, the Agency will continue to be the digital engine of Schengen and the enabler of the implementation of one of the fundamental right of the EU citizens – freedom of movement.
Increased capacity at our operational site in Strasbourg will support eu-LISA in the implementation of its extended mandate - to ensure efficiency of management of the EU's external borders, internal security and migration management across the Schengen Area and beyond. Furthermore, our extended site will enable the Agency to broaden its service portfolio and to accelerate digital transformation in the Home Affairs and Justice domains and others.
Our extended site in Strasbourg will enable eu-LISA to successfully address the growing expectations and demands of its stakeholders and to increase further its contribution to the EU and the EU's citizens", said Krum Garkov, Executive Director of eu-LISA.
History and background information
In 2013, eu-LISA was given the former "Centre du Système d'Information Schengen" by the French government and has been running the Agency's large-scale IT systems from there ever since. Some renovation works and the construction of a new building in 2017 met the Agency´s short term need, to host the resources required to operationally manage three IT systems in 24/7 mode.
With eu-LISA's new Establishing Regulation Reg. (EU) 2018/1726, adopted on 11 December 2018, and the enlarged mandate to improve existing and develop new information systems for security, border management and migration that it brought, the lack of space and infrastructure on the operational site became more evident.
Earlier that same year, during the inauguration event for the renovated site in Strasbourg, Mr Roland Ries, then mayor of Strasbourg, confirmed during his speech that the city would transfer the neighbouring land for the symbolic value of 1€.
On 1 March 2019, the Strasbourg Council of the Eurometropole approved and signed the deliberation that confirmed the land transfer. From the beginning of 2020, with the assistance of the French Interior Ministry the formal handover has been prepared between the local authorities and the French state.
