Rome loses, Lille to host the EU Customs Authority

Brussels – Two years later, having lost out to Frankfurt for the EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), Rome tried again. And once again, it fell at the final hurdle. Today, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament have decided that the French city of Lille will host the headquarters of the future European Union Customs Authority (EUCA). 

Nine cities had put themselves forward as candidates: Liège, Zagreb, Lille, Rome, The Hague, Warsaw, Porto, Bucharest and Málaga. Rome had proposed allocating an entire building on Viale della Civiltà Romana in the EUR district to the Authority. According to the procedure, the two EU institutions were to put forward two names: the city appearing on both lists would be declared the winner. However, the shortlists of the Parliament and the Council turned out to be identical, thus setting up the final contest between the capital of Italy and the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, just a few kilometres from the Belgian border. “The finalists received broad support from both institutions“, admitted the European Parliament’s rapporteur on customs reform, Dirk Gotink. It took four rounds of voting to declare Lille the winner, which ultimately prevailed with 36 votes to Rome’s 18. 

The establishment of the new authority is part of efforts to reform the EU’s overall customs framework, enabling it to cope with the considerable pressures arising from increased trade flows, the fragmentation of national systems, the rapid growth of e-commerce, and changing geopolitical realities. Interinstitutional negotiations on the reform are in the final stages: the general regulation will specify the location of the EUCA’s headquarters, and the date on which it will commence operations will also be agreed. 

The Authority, which will have a staff of around 250, will be responsible for coordinating and supporting national customs authorities’ activities consistently across the Union. “French customs have a long and solid tradition of excellence in customs work, and I have every confidence in the cybersecurity environment they will be able to provide,” said Gotink on the sidelines of the vote. The French President, Emmanuel Macron, in a post on X, hailed “the result of an extraordinary collective effort.” Macron described Lille as “an open and fully European metropolis, a source of pride for France.” 

Among the Italian delegations, the Five Star Movement immediately took a dig at the government, expressing “deep regret at this decision, which demonstrates once again the Meloni government’s irrelevance within the European institutions.” Forza Italia, on the other hand, extended “sincere thanks to the European People’s Party for its strong and wholehearted support for Rome’s bid, which enabled our capital to reach the final stage of the decision-making process.”