Republic of Croatia and Zagreb present their bid for the seat of the European Union Customs Authority (EUCA)

Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia and Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović and Customs Administration Director Mario Demirović present to the European Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee Zagreb’s bid for EUCA's seat

On Wednesday, 28 January 2026, Croatia and Zagreb’s bid for the seat of the EUCA, a new decentralized EU agency, which will be the focal point for supporting national customs agencies, was presented. The EUCA will aim to establish a centralised customs IT system (DATA HUB), simplify customs procedures, increase the security of online purchases for EU citizens, coordinate the activities of common customs controls, establish and implement an EU-wide risk analysis, implement and coordinate joint training at EU level, and provide simpler and more uniform tools for the implementation of customs procedures.

Nine EU Member States/cities are officially in the running for EUCA’s seat: Belgium (Liege), Croatia (Zagreb), France (Lille), Italy (Rome), the Netherlands (Hague), Poland (Warsaw), Portugal (Porto), Romania (Bucharest), and Spain (Malaga).

The Croatian delegation presented the commercial building built for the needs of the South East European Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning - SEECEL, in the Radoslav Cimerman Street in Zagreb.

The bid highlights that Croatia is among the safest countries in Europe, that Zagreb provides a safe and hospitable environment, and that the Republic of Croatia offers the most cost-effective solution within the European Union for the accommodation of European agencies. 

It was emphasised that the Republic of Croatia offers a building that is ready for use, and it was specifically built for European institutions in accordance with all the required criteria, such as general security and IT security. It was pointed out that there are no additional costs for the building, which is certainly an affordable solution for EU taxpayers. The Croatian delegation also asserted that its bid is the best in terms of technical properties of the building itself.

The Advanced Training Centre Bregana, which - operating within the Ministry of Finance, Customs Administration - provides all the necessary infrastructure, including spatial and didactic capacities for the development of competences in the field of prevention of smuggling, was presented as a major comparative advantage. The Centre enables simulation of border crossing procedures in real life situations, with complete infrastructure and detection equipment.

One of the most important facts that support Croatia and Zagreb's bid is the fact that the Ministry of Finance, the Customs Administration, in cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior, manages the longest external border in the EU and has the largest volume of road cargo traffic among all Member States, which provides the EUCA with proximity to operational procedures and insight into best practices for EU’s external border control.

The delegation also highlighted the fact that the Republic of Croatia, as the youngest EU Member State, does not yet have a decentralised agency on its territory.

The decision on the selection of EUCA’s seat is expected this month.

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