Background
The European Commission presented in July 2021 a package of legislative proposals with the aim to combat money laundering and financing of terrorism. At the heart of the proposals is the creation of a new EU decentralised agency, the Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism Authority (AMLA).
The European Parliament and the Council have started legislative negotiations on this package, including the proposal for a Regulation establishing AMLA. On the selection of the seat of AMLA, co-legislators have agreed on the criteria for the selection of AMLA’s seat.
On 28 September 2023, at the request of the co-legislators, the Commission has launched a call for applications to Member States.
Criteria for the selection of AMLA’s seat
When selecting the location, the co-legislators have agreed that they will ensure that, given the nature of AMLA, the location enables the Authority to fully execute its tasks and powers, to recruit highly qualified and specialised staff, to offer adequate training opportunities for Anti-Money Laundering/ Countering the Financing of Terrorism activities, where relevant, to allow for close cooperation with Union institutions, bodies and agencies, and in order to avoid reputational risks, to consider how Money Laundering/Terrorist Financing risks are adequately addressed in the Member State based on publicly available, relevant and comparable information such as reports from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
In addition, the co-legislators have agreed on the following criteria for the selection of AMLA’s seat:
- The date on which AMLA can become operational on site after the entry into force of the Regulation;
- Accessibility of the location;
- Existence of adequate education facilities for the children of AMLA’s staff;
- Appropriate access to the labour market, social security and medical care for both children and spouses;
- Geographical balance.
Call for applications to host AMLA
The call for applications was sent to Member States on 28 September 2023. The deadline for Member States to submit their applications is 10 November 23 at 18:00.
Member State applications
Within the deadline of 10 November 2023 at 18:00, nine Member States submitted applications to host AMLA.
Belgium - Brussels
Germany - Frankfurt
Ireland - Dublin
Spain - Madrid
France - Paris
Italy - Rome
Latvia - Riga
Lithuania - Vilnius
Austria - Vienna
Commission assessment
The Commission submitted its assessments of the nine applications to host AMLA on 10 January 2024.
- Commission assessment note
- Assessment Belgium (Brussels)
- Assessment Germany (Frankfurt)
- Assessment Ireland (Dublin)
- Assessment Spain (Madrid)
- Assessment France (Paris)
- Assessment Italy (Rome)
- Assessment Latvia (Riga)
- Assessment Lithuania (Vilnius)
- Assessment Austria (Vienna)
- Assessment summary
Joint public hearings
On 30 January 2024, the European Parliament and the Council organised joint public hearings of all applicants.
Information on the hearings and background documents from candidate Member States can be found at this link.
Final decision
In order to find agreement on the location of AMLA's seat, co-legislators voted together in an informal inter-institutional meeting on 22 February 2024 with the same number of votes attributed to each co-legislator. As a result of this joint vote Frankfurt was selected.
The location of the seat will be reflected in the legislative text and formally adopted as part of this text in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure.