The European Union’s co-legislators should reach agreement on the process for selecting the seat of the future European Customs Authority (EUCA) “this week”, the European Parliament’s rapporteur, Dirk Gotink (EPP, Dutch), told the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) on Monday 26 January.
“We are currently negotiating with the EU Council on how this would work in practice in terms of the timetable and voting procedures”, he explained. “The only precedent we have is the AMLA, and that was a very painful experience for the Parliament. So we’re trying to improve that in order to create a more balanced institutional environment where both legislatures are really on an equal footing”, he added.
Indeed, the selection process for the seat of the European Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) in 2024 was the first in which the European Parliament was involved (see EUROPE 13352/14, 13356/14). However, according to our information, the choice of Frankfurt am Main for the AMLA was mainly the choice of the EU Council, and the European Parliament had this choice imposed on it.
After the IMCO hearing of the nine candidate cities for the EUCA seat on Wednesday 28 January (see EUROPE 13793/7), the European Parliament negotiators will go to the EU Council to “try to find common ground”. Mr Gotink also announced that Member State representatives would be attending the hearing, according to a letter he received shortly before his speech. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)