New European cities, including Bucharest, are competing for the headquarters of the new European Customs Authority.

Brussels, January 27, 2026 – On Wednesday, January 28, the members of the Internal Market Committee will hold a Q&A session with the cities competing to host the future European Customs Authority (EUCA).

In brief

New cities are competing for the EUCA headquarters: Liège, Málaga, Lille, Zagreb, Rome, The Hague, Warsaw, Porto, and Bucharest. Bucharest is the only Eastern European city in the competition. The Q&A session with representatives of the candidate cities will take place on Wednesday, January 28. MEPs will assess the infrastructure plans and support capacity. The European Commission has already evaluated the applications. The European Parliament will vote internally for the preferred location. The final decision will be made jointly by the EP and the Council. EUCA will coordinate customs cooperation, manage risks, and operate the Customs Data Hub.

During the exchange of views, MEPs will ask the candidates to explain their infrastructure plans and demonstrate their capacity to support a centralized authority in the context of an increasingly complex trading environment.

In total, nine cities responded to the call for applications and submitted their bids. These are: Liège (Belgium), Málaga (Spain), Lille (France), Zagreb (Croatia), Rome (Italy), The Hague (Netherlands), Warsaw (Poland), Porto (Portugal), and Bucharest (Romania).

The European Commission has already evaluated their applications. Now, the European Parliament's Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection will organize a Q&A session with representatives of the candidate cities. This is an important step in the internal parliamentary procedure, allowing MEPs to examine, assess, and appropriately compare the candidacies before the internal vote on the Parliament's preferred location.

The EU is establishing a new European agency, the European Customs Authority (EUCA), as part of a major reform of the EU Customs Code. The agency is expected to coordinate future customs cooperation, ensure risk management, and operate the new general customs IT system - Customs Data Hub. The European Parliament and the Council will jointly decide on the location of the EUCA headquarters.