Netherlands losing favor as new home for European Customs authorities
The Netherlands’ chances of hosting the European Union’s new customs authority have decreased significantly. The Hague, one of nine candidate European cities, has little support in the European Parliament. The current political situation in the Netherlands and the fact that Amsterdam already won the EMA in 2019 are also counting against it, sources told the Financieele Dagblad.
In the European Parliament, which has a say in the new authority’s location, only the European liberals have The Hague as a favorite on their voting list. The French city of Lille, the Polish capital Warsaw, and the Spanish city of Málaga scored the highest on the political groups’ lists. The sources mainly attribute the Netherlands’ poor showing to the proposed building in The Hague being by far the most expensive.
FD’s sources also said that the political situation in the Netherlands plays a role. In the past two years, the Netherlands’ caretaker non-partisan Prime Minister Dick Schoof had less political influence on the European decision-making process than the other heads of government. Polish Prime Minsiter DOnald Tusk, for example, actively lobbied for Warsaw to be the customs authority’s home base.
Hosting an EU agency is considered politically and economically attractive. The European customs authority will play a key role in the customs regulations the EU is currently reforming, for example. The agency also brings with it approximately 250 staff members, and expats usually mean more spending and employment for a country.
In 2019, the Nehtelrands managed to land the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which ended up moving from London to Amsterdam after Brexit. According to FD’s sources, this may be counting against The Hague for the customs authority. MEPs believe the Netherlands has “already had its turn.”
