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Regions & Cities: The EU Agencies Race

EUobserver's 2017 Regions & Cities magazine takes a closer look at EU agencies and the benefits for cities and regions to host them. The UK leaving the EU has prompted a scramble for the European Medicines Agency and the European Banking Authority among most of the remaining member states. But what makes a city competitive? Which cities stand a good chance to become the new hosts? And what do EU agencies bring to the local economy?

Frontex puts roots down

Frontex puts roots down in Poland Frontex, the EU border and coastguard agency, will grow three-fold in five years. It will build a new office in the Polish capital despite rising tensions over migration policy betweenen Warsaw and Brussels. y L aLiii it feels like going into any 20 — REGIONS & CITIES OCTOBER 2017

Photo: Aeey ooyaiy spaces in the city. Inside the building, the corridors are modern and bright, with white walls and a grey carpet- comfortable than the European Commission's Berlaymont building in Brussels. MORE PEOPLE, LESS SPACE The migration crisis forced the EU to strengthen its border guards. A regulation adopted in September 2016 gave Frontex new powers, with The agency is hiring new people, which means squeezing more staff into less space. "They are taking away the space we used to have for meetings, as well as putting new desks into the old rooms," says one of the Frontex employees. The agency is planning to rent some additional space in the coming months. In 2015, Frontex employed 320 people, but now it employs 460. Nearly 170 people are involved in operations, 150 work as analysts, and 80 work on operational logistics. By 2020, the number of staff is expected to increase to 1,000. occupied by a bank. "Maybe we will have to take The agency also helps Bulgarian, Hungarian and Croatian guards in patrolling the borders with Serbia, and the Bulgarian authorities in monitoring the Turkish border – Frontex has 270 border guards deployed at these crossing points. POLITICAL DECISION Currently, Frontex operates mainly in southern Europe and the Mediterranean, but its headquarters are based in Poland. Does that make sense? access to a big airport," said Ewa Moncure, a Frontex spokeswoman. "Our operations take place at the external borders of the EU with the strongest migration pressure. Now it is mainly the Greek, Italian and Spanish maritime border, but what if migration pressure moves to Finland or to the Ukrainian border?" The coordination of the current operations takes Catania, Italy, or in Greece. "The location of the headquarters does not play a section, administration, public procurement can work from anywhere in Europe," Moncure added. monitor the situation in regions where the agency runs operations. Many people travel between Warsaw and the agency's operational sites. The budget of the agency will grow from € 143 million in 2015 to € 322 million in 2020. Frontex is currently running 12 operations in cooperation with EU states. The largest of them are sea operations – "Triton," off the coast of Italy and and "Poseidon," in Greece and the Aegean Sea (with nearly 900 border guards and 14 ships). Maritime operations are the most expensive part of the agency's budget. The location of an EU agency is a political decision, which is usually made around the time it is created. Poland joined the EU in 2004, together with nine other nations, mainly from Central and Eastern Europe. A year before, the EU had decided that, when establishing new agencies, "priority" should be given to locations in the new member after that decision. REGIONS & CITIES OCTOBER 2017— 21

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