REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the compliance of the European Banking Authority with the requirements regarding the location of its seat
Date: 2023-09-05
Institutions: Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union, European Commission
Subjects: European Banking Authority, France, Ile-de-France, United Kingdom, operation of the Institutions, seat of institution, withdrawal from the EU

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 5.9.2023  COM(2023) 505 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the compliance of the European Banking Authority with the requirements regarding the location of its seat  
 
 
1 

INTRODUCTION 

In  the  context  of  the  United  Kingdom’s  withdrawal  from  the  Union,  the  other  27 
Member States, at the margins of the General Affairs Council on 20 November 2017, 
selected Paris, France, as the new seat of the European Banking Authority (EBA)1.  

The  location  of  the  EBA’s  seat  is  laid  down  in  Article  7  of  the  EBA  founding 
Regulation2 (“the EBA regulation”), which therefore had to be amended3 to move the 
seat  from  London  to  Paris.  In  addition  to  changing  the  location  of  the  seat,  the 
amendment to the EBA regulation introduced certain new requirements regarding the 
location of the seat as well as an obligation for the Commission to publish a report by 
30  March  2019  and  every  12  months  thereafter  on  EBA’s  compliance  with  these 
requirements. 

According to Art. 7 of the EBA Regulation: “The location of the seat of the Authority 
shall not affect the Authority’s execution of its tasks and powers, the organisation of 
its governance structure, the operation of its main organisation, or the main financing 
of its activities, while allowing, where applicable, for the sharing with Union agencies 
of  administrative  support  services  and  facility  management  services  which  are  not 
related to the core activities of the Authority”.  

EBA has provided the necessary input to fulfill these reporting requirements. The first 
four reports were published in 20194, 20205, 20216 and 20227. This is the fifth report 
under this reporting obligation.  

2 

EBA  HEADQUARTERS AGREEMENT 

The  Headquarters  Agreement  (hereinafter  “HQA”)  with  the  French  Government  , 
signed  in  Paris  on  6  March  2019,  was  adopted  by  the  Assemblée  nationale  on  17 
February  2022.  The  HQA  was  approved  in  the  Sénat  on  19  July  2022  followed  by 
publication in the French Offical Journal on 30 July 2022.    

In addition to the requirements of Protocol No 7 on the privileges and immunities of 
the  European  Union8,  the  HQA  entitles  EBA  staff  members  to  a  special  residence 
permit  FI  (Fonctionnaire  International),  attesting  their  status  as  international  civil 
servants in France (applicable also to family members). EBA has been engaging with 
the  Protocol  Office  of  the  Ministry  of  Europe  and  Foreign  Affairs  and  Customs  to 
ensure a smooth process in relation to the arrival of staff and their families in France, 

General Affairs Council (Art. 50), 20 November 2017:  

1  
https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2017/11/20/european-banking-authority-to-
be-relocated-to-city-country/  
2  
Regulation  (EU)  No  1093/2010  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  24 
November 2010 establishing a European Supervisory Authority (European Banking Authority) (OJ L 
331, 15.12.2010, p. 12). 
3  
Regulation (EU) 2018/1717 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 November 
2018,  amending  Regulation  (EU)  No  1093/2010  as  regards  the  location  of  the  seat  of  the  European 
Banking Authority (OJ L291, 16.11.2018, p. 1). 
4  
5  
6  
7  
8  

COM (2019) 451 final. 
COM (2020) 317 final. 
COM (2021) 771 final 
COM (2022) 387 final 
OJ C202, 7.6.2016, p. 266-272 

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the  provision  of  special  residence  permits,  and  the  application  of  tax  privileges  to 
EBA.  As  of  April  2023,  285  staff  and  family  members  have  received  special 
residence  permits,  one  additional  application  is  being  processed  and  47  special 
residence permits have been returned due to end of employment.  

Article 9 of the HQA exempts EBA from  VAT incurred on official expenses where 
the invoice amount net of VAT is greater than EUR 150. In practice, EBA is paying 
the VAT on French purchases,  and on purchases  where the MOSS (VAT Mini One 
Stop Shop) scheme9 applies, and is reclaiming this VAT from the French government. 
As of April 2023, EBA has claimed reimbursement of EUR 4,934,565, of which EUR 
4,569,424 has been received. 

The  information  regarding  the  European  School  of  Paris-La  Défense  in  Courbevoie 
has not changed with respect to the previous report with the exception of the number 
of children enrolled at the school. For the 2022-2023 school year, 32 children of EBA 
staff members were enrolled at the school. 

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EBA GOVERNANCE, OPERATIONS AND EXECUTION OF TASKS 

EBA’s tasks and powers, the organisation of its governance structure, the operation of 
its main organisation, and its main financing were not affected by the relocation of its 
seat. EBA has been fully operational in its new offices in Paris from the beginning of 
June 2019. 

The relocation of the EBA’s seat to Paris has had no impact on the main financing of 
EBA’s activities by the EU and the national competent authorities. Separate from this 
financing, the French government is providing 8.5 million euros to cover costs of the 
Paris offices. This funding is divided between EUR 1.5 million for set-up costs, which 
has  already  been  received  and  spent,  and  EUR  7.0  million  for  ongoing  lease  costs, 
which is to be received over the course of the nine years of the lease to smoothen out 
the budgetary impact. To date, EBA has invoiced and received EUR 6,225,000 under 
this agreement. 

Sharing of administrative support services with other Union agencies 

EBA  cooperates  actively  with  ESMA  on  administrative  matters,  with  regular 
meetings being held between the equivalent administrative units of the two agencies.  

EBA  has  signed  a  Service  Level  Agreement  with  ESMA  for  the  provision  of 
accounting services and since July 2021, EBA is providing these services to ESMA. 
EBA’s  Accounting  Officer  and  Accounting  Assistant  are  shared  between  the  two 
agencies,  which  allows  for  a  more  efficient  use  of  resources.  ESMA’s  Management 
Board  appointed  EBA’s  Accounting  Officer  as  ESMA’s  Accounting  Officer  with 
effect from 1 July 2021. 

EBA  works  closely  with  other  EU  agencies  based  in  France  with  regard  to  their 
procurement  procedures,  especially  with  ESMA.  The  table  in  the  Appendix 
summarises the activity in this area. EBA and ESMA also participate in a network of 
procurement officers of international organisations based in Paris. 

9 

VAT on digital services/MOSS: What services are covered? - Your Europe (europa.eu) 

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EMAS and environmental management 

Since 2021, EBA, ESMA and EIOPA environmental coordinators meet  regularly,  at 
least  quarterly,  to  share  documents  and  environmental  best  practices  in  the  areas  of 
environmental  management,  sustainability  reporting  and  EMAS  (Eco-Management 
and  Audit  Scheme)  implementation.  On  11  August  2022,  EBA  was  notified  of  its 
successful  EMAS  registration.  All  three  agencies  also  cooperate  in  the  Greening 
Network  of  the  European  agencies.  Additionally,  in  March  and  April  2023  the 
representatives  of  the  EBA  and  ESMA  participated  in  each  other’s  EMAS  internal 
audits as observers.  

Sharing facilities 

In March 2023, the CPVO10 made use of EBA meeting rooms for two days of training 
of  groups  of  experts.  The  EBA  has  also  made  use  of  ESMA  facilities  for  off-site 
meetings.  In  March  2023,  the  three  ESAs  signed  a  cooperation  agreement  allowing 
EBA and EIOPA to share the TESTA TAP11 installed for ESMA at the data centre in 
Aubervilliers. 

Other collaboration 

During  the  Covid-19  pandemic,  EBA  established  a  network  with  ESMA,  Interpol, 
UNESCO,  and  the  OECD  to  discuss  the  new  ways  of  working,  vaccination, 
teleworking rules, and other common matters every quarter. 

Cooperation on joint ESAs projects 

EBA, ESMA and EIOPA work on a joint project (led by EIOPA) with the objective to 
establish a system for the exchange of information relevant to the  assessment of the 
fitness  and  propriety  of  holders  of  qualifying  holdings,  directors,  and  key  function 
holders of financial market participants by competent authorities. 

The three ESAs are also cooperating very closely on the preparations for DORA12 and 
MiCA13. 

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CONCLUSIONS 

Based on the available information, the EBA’s execution of its tasks and powers, its 
governance structure, its main organisation, and the financing of its activities have not 
been  affected  by  the  relocation  of  its  seat  to  Paris,  nor  by  the  administrative 
cooperation  arrangements  with  ESMA  and  EIOPA  described  above,  which  are  not 
related to the core activities of EBA. 

Community Plant Variety Office 
Trans-European Services for Telematics between Administrations Turnkey Access Point 
Regulation (EU) 2022/2554 of the  European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 

10  
11  
12  
2022 on digital operational resilience for the financial sector (OJ L 333, 27.12.2022, p.1). 
13  
Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023 on 
markets in crypto-assets, and amending Regulations (EU) No 1093/2010 and (EU) No 1095/2010 and 
Directives 2013/36/EU and (EU) 2019/1937 (OJ L 150, 9.6.2023, p.40) 

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APPENDIX 

Lead 
agency 
ESMA 

Participating 
agencies 
EBA 

EBA 

ESMA 

ESMA 

ESMA 

EBA 

EBA 

EBA 

EBA  

EBA  

EBA 

EBA 

EBA 

EBA 

ESMA 

CPVO 
ESMA  

ESMA  +  9  other 
agencies  
ESMA,  EUISS14, 
EUSPA15  
ESMA, EIOPA 

ESMA 

ESMA 

EBA, EIOPA 

ESMA 

EBA 

EBA 

EBA 

EBA  

EBA  

EBA  

CPVO 

ESMA 

ESMA  

ESMA  

ESMA  

Procedure 

Status 

Facilities management 
consultancy and 
reception services 
Language training and 
testing 
ICT consultancy 

Interim staff 

Waste management 
services 
Electricity supply 

Plants & flowers 

Data protection 
consultancy  
Medical services  

Managed network 
services 
External audit of annual 
accounts 
IT app. development, 
maintenance and 
support 
Technical skills 
development training 
Electricity supply 

Corporate support 
consultancy services 
Cleaning services 

Language training and 
testing 
Strategic and digital 
communication services 

Framework contract 
(FWC) signed in 
May 2019 
FWC signed in 
January 2020 
FWC signed in Q4 
2020 
FWC signed in 
November 2020 
FWC signed in 
February 2021 
FWC signed in May 
2021 
FWC signed in May 
2021 
FWC signed in 
November 2021 
FWC signed in 
December 2021 
FWC signed in June 
2022 
Contract signed in 
June 2022 
FWC signed in 
January 2023 

FWC signed in 
February 2023 
Signature planned 
for Q2 2023 
Signature planned 
for Q2 2023 
Signature  planned 
for Q3 2023  
Signature  planned 
for Q3 2023  
Signature planed for 
Q1 2024 

14 European Union Institute for Securities Studies 
15 The European Union Agency for the Space Programme. 

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