Spain has defended Madrid as the “best possible headquarters” for the European agency against money laundering

European Union Will decide on the location of the new headquarters European authority to target capital and combat the financing of terrorism (AMLA) the next 22 february, representatives of 9 candidate cities ,Rome (Italy), paris (France), Vienna (Austria), madrid (Spain), vilnius (Lithuania), riga (Latvia), frankfurt (Germany), dublin (Ireland) and brussels (Belgium) – This Tuesday he faced his last test. The Spanish delegation, headed by the Minister of Economy, carlos bodyand the mayor of Madrid, jose luis martinez-almeidapresented madrid As ““Best possible place”,

Boddy, who had already defended his candidacy as Secretary of State for the Treasury, and Martínez Almeida united this Tuesday during a hearing held before the Economic Affairs Committee and the Civil Liberties Committee of the European Parliament. It was a brief examination lasting about half an hour, in which he received questions from only three MEPs who asked him about technical issues and geographical balance

, Madrid does not currently host the headquarters of any European agency, although presences exist in other cities such as Vigo, Bilbao or Alicante. How can Madrid meet this criteria?” Annalisa Tardino, Italian MEP from La Lega, asked him.

“20 out of 27 European capitals already have a Community Unit. Madrid is not and it is the fourth largest capital of the European Union. “If you look at financial institutions, it would be an example of taking this entity out of the core,” replied the Spanish minister, who believes that Madrid not only fits perfectly the criterion of geographical balance, but it is also defeated candidate, “When we look at the strengths of the different candidates, Madrid has assets in all the important indicators that we had to meet and of course everything that relates to the domestic framework of the fight against money laundering, where we then Have been leading since the 90s,” it has emerged after the hearing.

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The new agency, which will have a staff of 150 employees in the first year but will expand to 350 or 400 employees in subsequent years, is a cornerstone of the reform of the EU legislative framework against money laundering and will improve direct and indirect . Supervisory powers, as well as the power to impose sanctions and demand measures. Both Bodie and Martínez Almeida, who have highlighted the strengths of crystal tower

As for the agency’s headquarters, they came away satisfied with the presentation.

“It was very well received by both the MEPs and the Council and Commission representatives who were listening to us. There are specific but technical questions and some of the elements that shape interest in candidacy are being discussed. All the comments are positive and we are excited about the prospects for Madrid,” the Economy Minister summed up. The Mayor of Madrid said, “We are waiting for the decision that is going to be made, but what we can say is that That it is the best headquarters to host an anti-money laundering agency.”

Decision of co-legislators

Until mid-2022, the European Parliament had no role in the process of choosing the headquarters of the various European agencies. This all changed following a ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) of July 14, 2022, which concluded that the determination of the seat is up to the legislator, that is, the Council and the European Parliament. Brussels officially launched the call at the end of last September and a total of nine candidates were presented.

The selection process has reached its final stage, with the presentation of the merits of each city on Tuesday. The final voting will take place on 22 February. Each institution will have 27 votes, That is, 27 for the European Parliament, which will be distributed among the political groups depending on their size, and 27 for the Member States. “We are pushing just like the other 8 candidates to get support,” the Spanish minister guaranteed.