The relocation process in the European Union of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Banking Authority (EBA), currently based in London, is continuing regardless of the uncertainties associated with the political process leading to Brexit (see other news and EUROPE 12172).
This has been confirmed to EUROPE by several sources, indicating that in Amsterdam, where the EMA is to be established, and in Paris, where the EBA is to be located, the installation work is based on current European legislation and the scenario of an effective withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU on 29 March.
In parallel with the Brexit negotiations, European legislation has been amended to bring the two European agencies back to the EU. At the end of 2017, the General Affairs Council decided to relocate its medicines agency to Amsterdam and its banking agency to Paris (see EUROPE 11908).
This decision was set in stone at the end of 2018 (see EUROPE 12119, 12125). Only a new legislative amendment under joint decision could reverse the trend, given that the European Parliament's term of office will end in mid-April.
The site that will temporarily host the EMA is ready
The EMA relocation process, which has been underway for many months, is based on the idea of a step-by-step move: the new regulation provides for a first move to a temporary building, followed in the autumn by a second move to a permanent building.
On 9 January, the Dutch authorities announced that their temporary building, the Spark building, was ready for use. This 11-storey space has 850 workspaces, 15,000 m2 of floor space and an extensive conference centre. According to the established schedule, the final building should be accessible by 16 November 2019 at the latest.
While the outcome of the Brexit negotiations does not seem to worry the Dutch authorities, it should be recalled that the relocation process is still awaiting a judgment of the EU Court of Justice following an action for annulment (Case C-59/18) brought on 30 January 2018 by Italy (see EUROPE 11951).
The EBA expected from March 30 in La Défense, Paris
The relocation processes of the European Banking Authority (EBA) have been somewhat delayed due to the late adoption of European legislation transferring the agency's headquarters from London to Paris.
The stakeholders - EBA, the ECB and the French authorities - are working on a mechanism to enable EBA to gain momentum with the ability, from 30 March, to make certain operational decisions in Paris. All the premises located in the Europlaza tower in Paris, La Défense, should be delivered a few weeks later. The date of 16 April is mentioned on the French side, a date that has not been confirmed in London, where it is assumed that the 200 staff members will be transferred by the summer.
In parallel, the European authority has started a process to select a successor to its former President, Andrea Enria, who now heads the Single Supervisory Board within the European Central Bank. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean and Mathieu Bion)