MEPs to quiz candidates for the seat of the new European Customs Authority

Tomorrow, on Wednesday 28 January, Internal Market Committee MEPs will hold a Q&A session with cities competing to host the headquarters of the future European Customs Authority (EUCA).

During the exchange, MEPs will ask the candidates to explain their infrastructure plans and to demonstrate their capacity to support a centralised authority in the context of an ever more complex trade environment.

In total, nine cities have responded to the call for applications and presented their bids. They are:

Liège, Belgium

Málaga, Spain

Lille, France

Zagreb, Croatia

Rome, Italy

The Hague, Netherlands

Warsaw, Poland

Porto, Portugal

Bucharest, Romania

European Commission has already assessed their applications. Now the European Parliament’s Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection will hold a Q&A session with representatives of the candidate cities. This is an important step in the internal parliamentary procedure, allowing MEPs to properly scrutinise, evaluate and compare the candidacies ahead of the internal vote on Parliament’s preferred location.

Background

The EU is setting up a new European agency - the European Customs Authority (EUCA) - in the framework of a major reform of the EU Customs Code. The agency is expected to coordinate future customs cooperation, ensure risk management and operate the new overarching customs IT system - the Customs Data Hub. The European Parliament and the Council will decide on the location of the EUCA’s headquarters jointly.