New seat of the EU Customs Office selected. tiny city in France better than Warsaw

Warsaw lost its rivalry for the fresh EU Customs Office, which will be established in Lille, France. The Polish capital had strong arguments, including a strategical location close to the EU borders, developed infrastructure and the presence of Frontex.


The chances were good, but the decision of the EU Council and the European Parliament proved to be unfavourable for Warsaw. Another office under the aegis of the European Union will open in the northern part of France. The final choice was on the city of 238 1000 inhabitants – Lille.

The fresh European Union initiative is intended to guarantee administrative stableness of customs duties. The EU Customs Office is simply a consequence to the gigantic movement of goods (such as China) and the changing geopolitical situation. It is to contribute to the establishment of a uniform and coherent customs policy and to oversee customs controls throughout the European Union.

Lille competed for the EU Customs Office with 8 another locations. Apart from Warsaw, we are talking about:

Liege in Belgium

Malaga in Spain

Zagreb, Croatia

Rome in Italy

Hague in the Netherlands

Porto, Portugal

Bucharest, Romania

The fresh office will employment 250 people. According to Onet, the proposal from Warsaw included the placing of office in the advanced 1 building on John Paul II Avenue.

Poland had truly strong arguments – Customs Office close to EU borders

The Polish proposal had a real chance of winning. Our country plays a key function in trade with non-EU countries. We are a strong e-commerce market, which has a large share of non-EU imports (although actually lower than France, Italy or Germany).

The argument behind the fresh office in Warsaw is that the European Border and Coast defender Agency – Frontex is located in our capital, an organization that will work closely with the fresh piece.

We are a transit country for goods transported by land from the east. We are a key link in the EU-Ukraine economical exchange chain, which could become a truly crucial trading partner over the next fewer years.

However, our location, infrastructure and the function we play internationally was not adequate to compete with France. We besides lost the Italian proposal.

Rome is besides better than Warsaw – we will wait for the prestige of hosting another EU office

Lille and Rome took part in the decisive vote. The French city from the very beginning was pointed to a strong favorite. France has a strong position in EU executive bodies and has a very effective global policy. France besides made a very interesting offer to finance the operation of the office, which was to cover 9 years of cooperation.

It is no wonder that France powerfully sought the presence of a fresh office in Lille. The office itself will employment 250 people, but its presence will affect the creation of more jobs and infrastructure. This kind of agency requires an appropriate environment – e.g. service facilities, but besides technological ones.

The presence of the EU agency in a given city affects the prestige and influence of the "host" in the context of the policy that the office creates. Hosting global organizations affects the alleged soft-power of a given nation.