The European Parliament and the Council have decided that the future EU Customs Authority will be based in Lille, France.
The decision was taken on Wednesday after the two institutions first drew up shortlists of two locations each, before negotiating teams agreed a final seat under an “agreed procedure”, the parliamentary press service announced.
Lille set out its case at a hearing in the European Parliament on 28 January, pointing to its location and transport links, its experience handling large flows of goods, and the availability of a building in the near future.
It also offered to cover the authority’s upkeep costs.
Dirk Gotink, the Parliament’s rapporteur on the file, said the Parliament and Council had “selected Lille, France, as the home of the new EU Customs Authority”.
Part of wider EU customs overhaul
The EU Customs Authority is due to be created as part of an overhaul of the EU customs code launched by the European Commission in 2023, the Parliament said.
Negotiations between MEPs and the Council on the wider reform are in the final stages, and the final agreement is expected to include the headquarters location decided on Wednesday.
The Parliament said the EU Customs Authority will be the second EU agency to have its headquarters chosen through a joint decision by the Parliament and the Council since a European Court of Justice ruling requiring both institutions to decide together on the seats of EU decentralised agencies.
The first was the Anti-Money Laundering Authority, whose headquarters was agreed on 22 February 2024.
