Prague, Oct 2 (CTK) – The EC has reservations about the candidacies of all EU countries that want to host the seat of the European Banking Authority (EBA) after Brexit, Karel Dobes, the government’s commissioner for the candidacy of Prague, told CTK on Monday, citing the EC’s comments on the countries’ bids so far.
Brussels’ reaction to the Czech bid shows that the EC misses more detailed information in it about the availability of kindergartens and medical care for the EBA staffers’ families, Dobes said.
On the other hand, the EC praised Prague for offering enough space and a good transport access, Dobes said, adding that the EC did not find the bids of other cities detailed enough either.
Apart from Prague, the EBA seat has been sought by Vienna, Brussels, Paris, Frankfurt am Main, Dublin, Luxembourg and Warsaw.
A total of nineteen cities, including the Slovak capital Bratislava, want to host the seat of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), another authority seated in London now.
Dobes said the EC’s assessment means no definitive result of the competition. It only aims to show how the bidders met the six basic criteria that are required for submitting the bid.
“The Czech Republic has met the criteria,” he said.
In further negotiations, Prague is going to supply more information to the EC.
A final choice of the new EBA seat is to be made by the participants in the EU countries’ foreign and EU affairs ministers at their meeting in November.
The vote will be preceded by a political discussion in October.
The Czech offer for the EBA seat is a building that is being constructed in Prague’s Pankrac neighbourhood and is to be completed in 2019, the EC stated in its reaction.
The EBA may move in immediately as of March 1, 2019, when Britain will leave the EU.
The EBA can adjust the new offices according to its needs. Apart from offices, the necessary logistics, archives, efficient communication networks, a space for data storage, safety of persons as well as computer technology, the EC stated, adding that no more technical details have been provided.
The EC appreciated the easy accessibility of Prague, which has direct air connection with 23 EU capitals, and a good transport access to the building concerned.
The EBA was established in reaction to the world financial crisis in 2011 as a regulator of the EU’s banking sector.
