Copenhagen joins Malta and others in crowded Brexit fight for medicines agency
Denmark has joined the crowded field vying to give a post-Brexit home to the European Medicines Agency, a London-based authority that is one of the regulatory jewels of the EU.
Copenhagen’s candidacy launch yesterday comes in the wake of Amsterdam, Milan, Stockholm, Barcelona and Dublin. The pan-European contest for the regulator may even- tually involve up to 20 applicants in total.
The process to find a new host for London’s two big EU agencies — the EMA and the European Banking Authority — is expected to bring out primal competitive spirits among the EU-27, in a tussle that Brexit negotiators fear will be hard to contain.
With almost 1,000 employees, the EMA not only brings a highly-educated workforce to its new home but also acts as a hub for the pharmaceuticals industry and related research activities. Industry figures fear a mishandled move could slow down the drug approval process in Europe and the UK.
As he lauded Copenhagen’s credentials and its established pharma industry, Anders Samuelsen, the Danish foreign minister, admitted “there is no doubt that the competition is tough”.
Some countries are still preparing applications, or remain locked in domestic disputes over which city to propose. Others are honing campaigns to woo industry and elbow out rivals in the diplomatic race.
“Forget about solidarity, this will be messy, ugly, everyone for themselves,” said one European diplomat preparing an EMA bid. The testy and unsuccessful negotiations between Sweden and Denmark over the idea of pitching Malmo — in a novel joint-bid linked by the Oresund bridge — gives a flavour of the diplomatic passions that may be unleashed by the race.
Expressions of potential interest have been noted from Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Finland, Cyprus, Malta, Greece, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary.
Only the Czech Republic and Estonia confirmed to the Financial Times that they would not be applying; Prague has decided to focus on its bid for the EBA.
Ultimately a decision on where agencies will be located requires unanimity among the EU member states, a legal requirement that could prove tricky while Britain remains within the bloc. The European Commission and the council of member states have yet to give any indication on how quickly they will propose to move agencies.
“It goes without saying that EMA needs clarity about its future as soon as possible,” said Bert Koenders, the Dutch foreign minister, at Amsterdam’s launch. “Its work is too important to everyone in Europe to postpone the matter until after the Brexit negotiations.”
So far most bids to provide a new seat for the EMA are focusing on quality of life and general appeal, the presence of a substantial pharmaceutical industry, infrastructure, housing, schools, transport links and a nearby university network.
Some eastern member states are noting summit conclusions from European leaders that suggested that new seats of agencies should be “primarily located” in EU states that joined after 2004, or which do not already have an agency.
Croatia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Romania and Slovakia host no EU agencies.
The EMA oversees medicine regulation within the EU and evaluates applications for medicines to receive marketing authorisation across the bloc. It has been based in London since it was founded in 1995.
Analysts say that along with highly-qualified talent, the EMA draws in an ecosystem of pharmaceutical businesses to the city. “If a US company was looking to locate a European headquarters somewhere, having it in proximity to the EMA makes perfect sense,” says one pharma consultant. “There are whole areas of subject discussions on policy areas that take place, and a lot of that is focused on the EMA.”
Some drugs company bosses have spoken out against the move, with Andrew Witty, chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline, warning it would cause “tremendous disruption” to the industry.