Prague, July 22 (CTK) – The Czech Republic has a suitable building near the centre of Prague which could host the European Banking Authority’s (EBA) headquarters after Brexit, according to a document drafted by the Government Office, which the cabinet will discuss on Monday.
If the Czech candidacy for hosting the EBA succeeded, the authority might be seated in a modern office complex that is under construction now and is to be completed in early 2019, the document says.
It points out Prague’s location in the centre of Europe and its dense flight connections with EU cities. It says Prague has enough accommodation capacities for EBA employees and their families, and the state can also offer recreational capacities to them.
Prague decided to submit its candidacy in February. The new EBA seat is to be chosen in November, following an assessment procedure, the rules of which the European Council set a month ago.
Another authority that is to move from London after Britain’s departure from the EU is the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Slovakia, the Czech Republic’s eastern neighbour, is among the countries competing for the new EMA seat.
The criteria the contenders are expected to meet include the assertion that the relevant authority would start operating in its new seat as of the day of Brexit, the new seat’s accessibility and enough education opportunities for the employees’ partners and children.
Further criteria to be assessed are access to the labour market, social certainties and health care for the employees’ partners and children.
The bids are also expected to outline the transfer timetable and the premises on offer.
To prove the Czech ability to meet all the criteria, the Government Office mentions the seat of the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency(GSA), which Prague has been successfully hosting for five years now.
In June, the government appointed Karel Dobes, an official with experiences with the GSA’s transfer to Prague, as its commissioner for the EBA location candidacy.
The EBA was established in reaction to the world financial crisis in 2011. It regulates the banking sector in the EU, its tasks including the formulation and coordination of bank rules.
