Ireland loses coveted EU banking agency in draw from a hat
I RELAND narrowly missed out on becoming the home of the European Banking Agency last night in a result that was eventually drawn from a hat.
After three rounds of voting among the EU’s 27 member states Dublin and Paris were tied on 13 votes apiece to host the agency when it relocates from London after Brexit.
The voting set-up meant that in the event of a tie the winner would be drawn from a hat.
Despite the result, Leo Varadkar congratulated Paris and praised the Irish effort. The Taoiseach tweeted: ‘Luck of the Irish didn’t hold today. Nine years since the banking collapse. Who’d have thought we’d some so close to winning the EBA.’
Earlier, Amsterdam claimed the European Medicines Agency with the flip of a coin, having racked up the same number of votes as Milan. Ireland had been in the running to attract both agencies, but pulled out of the bid for the EMA in a move aimed at boosting its chances of landing the EBA, which currently provides 167 jobs in London.
Ireland’s prospects of securing the EBA were deemed much higher, and so it proved, with only chance denying Dublin the opportunity to become Europe’s new banking regulation hub.
Right before the final decision was made Fine Gael MEP Brian Hayes told RTÉ’s Six One News the efforts of Irish diplomacy should be recognised after securing a top two finish.
He said: ‘The fact that we’ve got so far, up against very big member states who equally have big financial services, is I think an enormous tribute to the work of the Irish permanent representative here in Brussels, to our entire diplomatic service and to the Government.’
He said the Government had laid out careful plans on issues that might have upset the bid, such as housing and transport.
Eight cities in total competed for the EBA: Dublin; Brussels; Frankfurt; Luxembourg; Paris; Prague; Vienna; and Warsaw.
After the first round of votes, Paris got 34 points, Frankfurt 32 and Dublin 28. The second round saw Dublin take the lead with 13 votes to Paris’s ten, while Frankfurt – which began the day as favourites – was eliminated with four. The final round saw both cities tied at 13 apiece, but the tiebreaker went to Paris.
Yesterday Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney and Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe congratulated the French on their win. ‘ The Irish Government made a very strong offer for the EBA to be located in Dublin. I wish to acknowledge the work carried out across government departments and agencies on our bid, which was well-received around Europe and viewed as strong and very competitive,’ Mr Coveney said.
Mr Donohoe said: ‘I congratulate Paris on being chosen as the new seat of the European Bank- ing Authority. It is important there is a smooth transition and successful relocation for the authority, its staff and their families.’
The votes did not pass off without controversy. Earlier Slovakia abstained from a vote on the medicines agency as it felt newer member states could not win and the votes were biased to western European countries.
The Irish government had said i t was willing to contribute €78million over ten years to cover costs of moving the agency and its staff to Dublin.
The defeat and the manner in which it came will come as a bitter blow to Mr Varadkar’s Government, coming hot on the heels of losing the Rugby World Cup to France and a failure to secure a commitment f rom Apple on the €850million data centre in Athenry, Co. Galway.
‘A very strong offer for the EBA’