The Council of Ministers decided on 13 July to apply for the northern city of Porto to be home to the EMA, considering that it is the Portuguese city that “has the best conditions to host the headquarters of that institution.”
On the occasion, the Minister of Health said Porto fits all the requirements to house the EMA’s headquarters, including being “logistics facilities” capable, with “a small adaptation effort,” of welcoming the approximately 900 employees who currently work at the headquarters in London.
As for the possible locations in the city, the Health Minister said “a building in the D. João I square, which has appropriate technical conditions,” has been earmarked.
Initially, Lisbon was the only national candidate, but the Government re-opened the process to include Porto as well.
Lisbon is already home to two European agencies, the Maritime Safety Agency and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.
The application procedure to host the two UK-based EU agencies, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Banking Authority (EBA), came to a close on 31 July 2017.
The European Commission will now assess all offers in an objective manner and on the basis of the criteria set out by President Jean-Claude Juncker and President Donald Tusk, and endorsed by the Heads of State or Government of all EU countries (excluding the UK) at the European Council in June.
The Commission’s assessment will be published online on 30 September 2017.
The Council will then have a political discussion based on this assessment at the General Affairs Council in October 2017.
In order to allow for a smooth and timely relocation of the two agencies, a final decision will be taken at the General Affairs Council in November 2017.
Interested Member States had until midnight on 31 July to submit their offers to the European Commission and the Council. All offers will be made available on the website of the Council.
The decision to relocate the EMA and the EBA – both of which are currently situated in London – is for the governments of the 27 Member States to make.
Their relocation is a direct consequence of the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union, as notified to the European Council on 29 March 2017.
It does not form part of the Brexit negotiations, but is to be discussed exclusively between the other 27 EU Member States and not involve any input from the United Kingdom.
The Commission has repeatedly called for a quick decision on the transfer, as the EMA and the EBA are two key EU regulatory bodies which must continue to function smoothly and without disruption beyond March 2019.