DutchNews, November 20, 2017 - By
Robin Pascoe
The EMA’s headquarters will be in Amsterdam’s Zuidas district. Photo: DutchNews.nl |
Amsterdam has
succeeded in its bid to host the European Medicines Agency when the
organisation leaves London following Brexit.
European ministers in Brussels
backed the Dutch offer after three rounds of voting on Monday evening. Both
Amsterdam and Milan were level pegging with 13 votes each in the final round,
leaving the EU’s current president Estonia to draw lots to decide the winner.
The Netherlands had lobbied hard to win the agency, but former finance minister
Wouter Bos, who led the Dutch bid, had rated the Dutch chances of winning as
‘small’.
Foreign affairs minister Halbe Zijlstra, who was in Brussels for the
voting, described the news as ‘fantastic’ in a Twitter message.
‘It is great
for the Netherlands and great for Dutch citizens who can continue to count on
good medicines and good control of those medicines,’ he said. ‘It shows that we
can deal decisively with the effects of Brexit.’
New offices
A survey of agency
staff in October showed that up to 70% would leave if the EMA went to an
unpopular choice among the 19 cities competing to host the organisation. Amsterdam, Barcelona and Vienna reportedly
topped the list.
Amsterdam’s pitch to persuade the EMA to relocate to the Dutch
capital included the promise of a new purpose-built office building in the
city’s Zuidas business district.
The Dutch government said it would finance a
€250m to €300m building for the EMA, which would then pay the market rate for
the space. The Dutch government also offered an €18m sweetener and a full
relocation package for the agency’s 900 staff.
The Netherlands already hosts
two European institutions – Europol and Eurojust.
900 staff
The EMA is a
decentralised agency of the EU, which began operations in 1995 and is
responsible for the scientific evaluation, supervision and safety monitoring of
medicines developed by pharmaceutical companies for use in the EU.
The agency
has a workforce of some 900 people, mainly highly skilled, from all over
Europe. Lille, Brussels, Copenhagen Stockholm, Dublin, Barcelona and Milan were
among the other cities hoping to attract the EMA.
The Dutch promo film
supporting the bid included mention of queen Maxima’s wardrobe, fish and chips
and children saying hello in English.
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