The negotiator of the European Parliament charges against the passivity of the Government in the anti-money laundering headquarters: "Madrid was able to beat Frankfurt"

CARLOS SEGOVIA

Updated Friday, February 23, 2024-11:24

The MEP in charge in the European Parliament of the negotiation to locate the new European anti-money laundering headquarters, Amla, charges against the passivity of the Spanish Government for not having achieved the victory of Madrid over Frankfurt.

The Spanish parliamentarian from Ciudadanos,

Eva Poptcheva

, could not prevent Frankfurt from winning on Thursday night, despite the fact that Madrid was a potential winner in the European Parliament, but the procedure was codecision and the German city swept the Spanish city in the another institution, the European Council, which is the one made up of governments.

"Madrid could have beaten Frankfurt if the Spanish Government had done its job from the beginning," the MEP assures EL MUNDO.

"Madrid was one of the clear favorites in the European Parliament and that is why it got so many votes [16], but it did not get enough support among the Member States represented in the Council," says Poptcheva.

The key is that Madrid could not go to the second round of voting, because everything indicates, although the vote was secret, that the Spanish Government ended up supporting Frankfurt.

And, without having reached that extreme, the poor support for Madrid among the governments shows that Spain has not mobilized in recent months like others, as this newspaper has been publishing.

"The new Minister of Economy,

Carlos Body

, has worked hard since his arrival to defend Madrid's candidacy," Poptcheva concedes, but places the setback before his arrival at the Ministry.

"The problem is that there has not been that level of involvement on the part of the Government from the beginning of the process.

It seems that AMLA is the price that we have had to pay in the Council for the presidency of the European Investment Bank

," he states, referring to that

Nadia Calviño

was appointed to this position last December with key support from the same German Government that now wins the seat for Frankfurt.

In a statement from the Citizens group in the European Parliament, they add that "Madrid presented a great candidacy: it met all the required requirements, but it

is also not yet the headquarters of any European agency, which could work in its favor

. The German city has received 28 votes, Madrid, 16, Paris, 6 and Rome, 4" in the joint vote between the European Council (27 votes) and the European Parliament (another 27).

"The lack of involvement of

Pedro Sánchez

's Executive in favor of the Spanish capital from the beginning is evident. It has not begun to work in depth until the last phase of the process, once the former vice president Nadia Calviño achieved promotion to the EIB" , says the statement.