Offer submitted by Austria to host the European Banking Authority Content I. Why Vienna? 4 1.1. Vienna at the crossroad between east and west 4 1.2. Quality of life 6 II. Criteria 8 2.1. Criterion 1: The assurance that the agency can be set up on site and take up its functions at the date of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the Union (adequate office logistics) 8 2.2. Criterion 2: The accessibility of the location 10 2.3. Criterion 3: The existence of adequate education facilities for the children of agency staff 13 2.4. Criterion 4: Appropriate access to the labour market, social security and medical care for both children and spouses 14 2.5. Criterion 5: Business continuity 17 2.6. Criterion 6: Geographical spread 19 III. Financial Terms 20 IV. Privileges and Immunities/Benefits to the Staff and Headquarters Agreement 21 V. Additional Information 22 5.1. Flight connections from/to Vienna Airport 22 5.2. Education 26 5.3. Language skills of medical doctors in Vienna 29 5.4. Vienna – an ICT hub 30 5.5. Data Centres in Vienna 31 5.6. Vienna – a dynamic business location 33 Offer for the Relocation of the European Banking Authority to Vienna – Content 2 Introduction The Austrian Federal Government greatly values the key role of the European Banking Authority (EBA) in the European architecture for banking supervision and its responsibility for safeguarding the uniform application of banking legislation among Member States. It herewith submits its offer to host the EBA in Vienna after the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union and to ensure a smooth and frictionless relocation of the EBA. Further, Austria submits its candidature for the relocation of the EMA to Vienna. The Austrian Government strongly believes that Vienna combines all the relevant factors to become the future host location for the EBA. Vienna has been successful in attracting international organisations for decades, be it offices of the United Nations or the World Bank. While each of these has different remits and requirements, all of them profit not only from the excellent living standard and great working conditions in Vienna, but also from its exceptional situation in the midst of Europe – a bridge to the west, east and south. Vienna is a crossroads, both geographically and in terms of the market, which would enable the Authority to further strengthen its important neutral coordinating role between euro area and non-euro area Member States. It is home to a financial sector that is highly integrated in euro area and non-euro area Member States as well as potential Member States in the vicinity of Austria. What might be difficult for others is business as usual for actors in Austria. Thus, amid the financial crisis, the Austrian authorities together with international institutions demonstrated how to assume responsibility towards markets that are closely tied to the Austrian market. The “Vienna Initiative” became the successful platform for the close cooperation of all the relevant actors to support financial market stability despite tremendous challenges. These factors are highly relevant and represent added value for the EBA given its responsibility for securing the Internal Market in banking throughout the European Union. Section I of this document focuses on only two of the manifold reasons why Vienna is the best future location for the EBA, namely its unique geographical, cultural and economic position and its excellent quality of living. Section II addresses the criteria agreed by the Heads of State or Government of 27 Member States on 22 June to enable an informed decision on the future seat of the agencies located in the UK. The financial terms of the offer are put forward in Section III. Section IV provides information on privileges and immunities and the Austrian Government’s commitment to signing a Headquarters Agreement with the EBA. Section V provides additional information that is complementary to Section II. The Austrian Government has drafted this offer with a view to facilitating the evaluation by the European Commission and our partner countries. We would like to invite the European Commission and our partner countries to consider the arguments and facts set out in this document. The Austrian Government stands ready to answer any further questions on the offer at hand. Contact: [email protected] Offer for the Relocation of the European Banking Authority to Vienna – Introduction 3 I. Why Vienna? 1.1. Vienna at the crossroads between east and west The responsibility of the EBA to safeguard the uniform application of banking legislation extends to Member States of the euro area and non-euro area Member States. Because of the financial interconnectedness of all the members of the European Union, it is essential for the Authority not to stop at currency frontiers when safeguarding the stability of the financial market via the integrity, efficiency and orderly functioning of the banking sector. The location of the Authority might be only one factor, but it is a highly relevant factor in further strengthening its important neutral coordinating role between euro area and non-euro area Member States. Vienna is at the crossroads of euro area and non-euro area Member States, as well as Southeastern Europe (SEE) close to the EU or even potential Member States. This unique position should be a determining factor in the selection of the future seat of the EBA. International hub for financial activities as well Not only because of Austria’s geographical location, but also because of its strong historical and cultural ties with Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe (CESEE), the bilateral links between Austria and the CESEE- region were intensified significantly after the fall of the Iron Curtain. Markets became highly interwoven, both commercially and financially. In the recent decades, Vienna has grown into an international hub for economic activities that span the CESEE region. In addition, Austria has become a gateway to the SEE countries. This holds true for the financial sector as well: the financial institutions based in Vienna with cross- border engagements act as both home and host institutions. In particular four significant home institutions operate an active banking network in the CESEE region, two of which exclusively focus on this region. Austria is highly attractive as a host country as well: several large international financial institutions based in Austria are subsidiaries of foreign banks, and in particular of European banks. Responsibility The Vienna Initiative (VI) reaffirms the importance of Vienna as a financial sector hub for Central and Eastern Europe. Together with other relevant public and private sector stakeholders the Austrian authorities launched the VI at the height of the global financial and economic crisis in January 2009 – with the aim of safeguarding financial stability and strengthening the banking sector in the CESEE region. The VI successfully established a dialogue amongst the relevant public and private sector actors aiming at averting the threat of acute financial market instability in the region. Initially conceived as an emergency instrument, the VI has now assumed a permanent role in identifying and addressing challenges in the financial sector. Training and research In the early 1990s, after the fall of the Iron Curtain, Austrian authorities (Federal Ministry of Finance, Austrian National Bank) founded an outstanding international training institution together with the IMF and other international organisations: the Joint Vienna Institute (JVI). With the highest standard of training in economic and financial affairs, the JVI was a response to the rising need for specialized training in the CESEE region, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Since then, roughly 40,000 people have been trained, among them numerous and now often high-ranking officials of governments and central banks from these regions. Amongst others the subjects dealt with cover micro- and macro-prudential issues and overall financial sector stability, providing potential synergies with the EBA’s training programme. Offer for the Relocation of the European Banking Authority to Vienna – I. Why Vienna? 4 In addition, the Austrian National Bank (Oesterreichische Nationalbank, OeNB) had already decided in the early 1990s to systematically use and increase its expertise in the CESEE region. Its research focuses on the whole of the CESEE region, covering EU Member States, EU candidate and potential candidate countries, as well as the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood countries. The OeNB has built up in-depth macro- financial research expertise on the CESEE region, highlighting the role of financial sector development and financial stability for transition and sustainable catching-up processes. Finally, Vienna hosts the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (WIIW). This is one of the principal centres for research on Central, East and Southeastern Europe, with more than 40 years’ experience of providing in-depth insights into the economic developments of this region. Advice/ World Bank The World Bank Group Vienna Office also benefits from the proximity to its Central and Eastern European client countries. In particular, the Vienna Financial Sector Advisory Center (FinSAC) is a dedicated institution that provides both policy and technical advice and analytical services to countries in the Emerging Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region. FinSAC’s technical assistance mandate covers most of the areas regulated by the EBA, and includes assistance in integrating the acquis communautaire into the national law of EU candidate and potential candidate countries. With the EBA located in Vienna, the already excellent collaboration with the FinSAC in the area of banking supervision and resolution could be enhanced. Further synergies could be achieved with the World Bank Centre for Financial Reporting Reform (CFRR), which supports countries in adopting high-quality financial reporting standards, including in the financial sector. Offer for the Relocation of the European Banking Authority to Vienna – I.