EU Customs in Netherlands? Yes, please!

It s official now! The Netherlands will enter a bid for the seat of the EU Customs Authority!

The European Commission wants to strengthen cooperation between customs services. To coordinate this, the European Customs Authority will be established next year. Today we announce that the Netherlands is a candidate to host this authority.

We are an important link in European cooperation. We want to strengthen that position. We have the necessities in-house, such as a strong logistics infrastructure. Think of the port of Rotterdam and Schiphol Airport. Our motorways and waterways are also the gateway routes to Europe.

So we as the Netherlands have a lot to offer the Customs Authority. And vice versa. In this way, the Customs Authority will provide more than 250 direct jobs in the coming years. In addition, it will also provide work for, for example, suppliers and support services.

It also gives the Netherlands an important role in European cooperation between customs services. This means that we can make our Dutch voice heard in the areas of goods traffic, enforcement of customs laws and regulations and ICT, among other things.

The Dutch offer will be announced at the end of November and the offer will be officially presented in Brussels on 2 December.

This is great news! The Netherlands has for decades been a world leading customs authority paving away with innovative strategies & thought-leadership, while at the same time experiencing the largest trade volume increases in Europe.

There is no better place for the future EU Customs Authority than in Netherlands.