Italy refuses to give up hope on EMA HQ
pharmafile | January 30, 2018 | News story | Medical Communications, Research and Development | EMA, amsterdam, biotech, drugs, pharma, pharmaceutical
It is no secret that Milan was not best pleased that it was pipped to the post to host the EMA headquarters by Amsterdam, not least because the decision was made by pulling a name from bowl.
Now, it is planning on using the uneasy transition to Amsterdam as its new base to try sway the decision of headquarter location in its favour. It comes after a press release from the EMA revealed that the agency would have to move not once but twice before settling into its new home in Amsterdam.
This is because Amsterdam does not currently have a building ready for the massive, 900-employee strong agency that hosts meetings of thousands of people each year.
Amsterdam has agreed to settle the EMA in a temporary building until the final building is completed but EMA Executive Director, Guido Rasi, revealed that the stop-gap home has only half of the capacity of its current London home. The temporary measure means that agency will have to supplement the space by taking external meetings in other venues.
Rasi reiterated the significant challenge this proposal throws up: “one thing is clear: the physical relocation of EMA to a new host country is the single biggest challenge EMA has ever had to deal with since its establishment. Moving a large organisation such as EMA to a new location is a complex undertaking under any circumstances. It is made even more challenging by the ambitious timeline we are given: we will need to be based in Amsterdam from day one of Brexit, that is by 30 March 2019.”
He also made it clear that the Dutch option is “not an optimal solution” – paving the way for some international wrangling between Italy, the Netherlands and the EU.
According to Politico, Giuseppe Sala, Mayor of Milan, revealed that Italy would appeal the decision to award the EMA to Amsterdam: “This situation risks becoming a bit ridiculous: first they invent this [procedure of drawing] lots, and then the Dutch start saying they are not ready, then they are giving a venue that is only half [of the current space of the agency],” Sala said. “It’s not a good moment for Europe.”
Given the rapidly approaching deadline the EMA is currently working towards in order to move to Amsterdam, it seems unlikely that the EU would renege on its decision and thereby protract the eventual move of the headquarters even further. However, given the potential prize at the end, it seems that Italy is more than happy to rock the boat in the off-chance it could happen.
Ben Hargreaves
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