Brexit: 19 countries running for London based agencies

7 years ago - Published in Finance, Fundamental Analysis

The Council of the EU has received bids from 23 cities to host the European Banking Authority and the European Medicines Agency, which will be relocated after Brexit.

In total eight offers have been made to host the EBA, which regulates the European banking sector, assessing risks and vulnerabilities by carrying out EU-wide stress tests. Some 19 cities are bidding to host the EMA, which is responsible for the scientific evaluation, supervision and safety monitoring of medicines in the EU and maintains the single market for medicines in the EU.

They are prized not only for the jobs but also for their potential to act as hubs for finance and pharmaceuticals, two of Europe's most important industries.

That has set off a battle from Madrid to Stockholm to Warsaw as EU members seek to grab one or other organisation.

France and Germany have been forced to dismiss a report by German magazine WirtschaftsWoche last month that the two biggest EU countries had agreed to divide the agencies between themselves, with the EBA going to Frankfurt and EMA to Lille.

Among criteria for selection are the city's infrastructure, transport links, jobs for employees' families and ensuring that EU institutions are spread around Europe.

The Council is now going through the submissions and a vote will be taken in November to decide where the two bodies, currently based in London's Canary Wharf, will be moved to. 

The candidates bidding for the EMA, one of Brexit’s biggest prizes for the Continent, are Amsterdam (the Netherlands), Athens (Greece), Barcelona (Spain), Bonn (Germany), Bratislava (Slovakia), Brussels (Belgium), Bucharest (Romania), Copenhagen (Denmark), Dublin (Ireland), Helsinki (Finland), Lille (France), Milan (Italy), Porto (Portugal), Sofia (Bulgaria), Stockholm (Sweden), Valletta (Malta), Vienna (Austria), Warsaw (Poland), Zagreb (Croatia).

There are eight candidates bidding for the EBA: Brussels (Belgium), Dublin (Ireland), Frankfurt (Germany), Paris (France), Prague (Czech Republic), Luxembourg City (Luxembourg), Vienna (Austria), Warsaw (Poland).