THE SEAT OF THE EUROPEAN CUSTOMS AUTHORITY - Pafos Live 27/3
The Customs Department welcomes yesterday's decision by the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament to allocate the headquarters of the newly established European Customs Authority (EUCA) to the city of Lille, France.
The selection and assignment of the headquarters of the new European organization was made among 9 candidate/contender European cities, Bucharest (Romania), Liège (Belgium), Lille (France), Malaga (Spain), Porto (Portugal), Rome (Italy), The Hague (Netherlands), Warsaw (Poland) and Zagreb (Croatia).
The establishment of the European Union Customs Authority (EUCA) will create a centralised coordination capacity to assist customs administrations collectively and consistently across the European Union.
The new EU customs authority is expected to:
- coordinate risk management at EU level
- promote a more uniform application of customs rules
- oversee customs activities across the EU
EUCA will carry out its tasks using data provided through the EU Customs Hub – a new EU-wide IT platform to interact between Customs and enhance data integrity, traceability and customs controls.
In parallel, Member States' customs authorities will continue to carry out their own national risk analyses tailored to their own specific needs.
With yesterday's important decision, the European Customs Authority will be based in Lille, France and is expected to have about 250 staff members.
