Waiting for the vote on Thursday in Brussels on the headquarters of the new European anti-money laundering authority
,
the AMLA.
Rome is among the nine cities in the race and according to what has been gathered from European sources it can compete,
even if the list of 'possible' candidates remains very large on the eve.
The high number of candidates and the voting method then make every prediction complicated, because it leads more than usual to keep one's cards covered until the very end.
For the first time, the host city of a European agency will be decided jointly by the EU Parliament and the Council, and not just by the states as in the past, on the recommendation of the EU Court (after an Italian appeal against the drug agency)
.
The vote will be secret and divided between the representatives of the States and the European Chamber, with 27 votes each.
The winner among the nine will be decided by a simple majority of the votes cast (28 out of 54, but also 26 if for example only 50 voted).
For the States, each delegation should field its own representative, while for the EP the rapporteurs will vote, plus the shadow rapporteurs, even if the exact composition will actually be decided by the two commissions involved: the one for the Economy (Econ) and the one for Justice (Libe).
Once the decision has been made, expected into the night, there will be a conference in the Council Room at the Europa Building.
From what filters through,
Rome's presentation at the joint hearing between the EP and the Council at the end of January appeared convincing,
with also a good economic value associated with the offer (27 million for the first eight years).
Vienna (perpetual cost coverage) and Dublin (80 million euros on the table) also hit the economic side, together with Madrid (112 thousand euros per month for the headquarters, plus general expenses),
which however could suffer from some bad mood for having just brought home the presidency of the EIB, entrusted to the former Minister of Economy Nadia Calvino.
However, Paris and Frankfurt are considered well positioned. Brussels, Riga and Vilnius are the other candidates.
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