FILE PHOTO: The headquarters of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is seen in London, Britain April 25, 2017. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo – RC157588BD90
November 20, 2017
By Gabriela Baczynska
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Milan and Amsterdam will run off later on Monday for the right to host the European Medicines Agency (EMA) when the EU drugs body must leave London after Brexit, diplomats said after a vote.
Milan has been the narrow favorite. Both Italy and the Netherlands were strongly favored by staff at the EMA, who had warned many might quit their jobs, possibly disrupting healthcare in Europe, if governments chose a less attractive host city, notably in ex-communist eastern Europe.
Sources familiar with the meeting of national ministers from the 27 EU states other than Britain said Milan was two votes short of outright victory in the second round, securing 12 votes to 9 for Amsterdam and 5 for Copenhagen, which was knocked out.
The apparent abstention of one country raised the possibility of a tie, which would be broken by drawing lots.
Sixteen other cities had bid for the prestige and economic boost that the arrival of the EMA’s 900 staff and many offices for international pharmaceuticals companies will bring. Slovak capital Bratislava, the leading contender in ex-communist eastern Europe, came in fourth in the first round of voting.
Ministers will go on to vote for one of eight cities hoping to host the smaller European Banking Authority (EBA), which sets rules used by the European Central Bank to carry out stress tests of the banking sector in the bloc.[nL8N1NN3B8]
Success for a wealthy Western state in securing the EMA could bolster the chances of Czech capital Prague in winning the EBA, diplomats said. Along with Warsaw, it has emphasized that there are relatively few EU agencies located in the countries which joined the bloc only after the Cold War.
Estonia’s EU minister Mattie Malarias, who was chairing the voting session, called the contest “a sad reminder of the concrete consequences of Brexit”. Britain is due to leave the EU in March 2019.
Despite fierce competition, the 27 EU states – minus Britain – are keen to avoid any protracted and bruising dispute over the matter as they see preserving unity as essential in facing Brexit, the biggest setback in the post-World War Two history of European integration.
“Whatever the outcome, the real winner of today’s vote is EU27. Organised and getting ready for Brexit,” EU summit chair Donald Tusk tweeted ahead of the vote.
Before Bratislava lost its bid, the Czech Republic’s EU minister, Ales Chimera, said Prague, a candidate to host the EBA, expected at least one of the two bodies to move to less-developed, ex-communist eastern Europe.
(Additional reporting by Philip Blenkinsop, Francesco Guarascio and Alastair Macdonald)
source https://capitalisthq.com/milan-amsterdam-face-off-to-host-eu-drug-agency-sources/
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