Italian MEPs attempt to disrupt EMA relocation

Italian members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are fighting the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) relocation to the Netherlands.

The EMA will move from its current location in London to Amsterdam in the Netherlands as a result of the UK’s decision to leave the EU, LSIPR reported in November last year.

The agency is responsible for the protection of public and animal health through the scientific evaluation and supervision of medicines.

Amsterdam and Milan were reportedly tied at 13 votes each, before Matti Maasikas, the Estonian minister chairing the relocation meeting, chose one of two balls from a fish bowl.

Amsterdam emerged as the chosen city, with plans to launch operations by March 30, 2019.

However, MEPs Patrizia Toia and Elisabetta Gardini questioned whether the decision to relocate the regulatory agency should be reopened.

They said that unnamed press releases indicated that the headquarters will not be operational by March 2019.

The MEPs said that, at the time of the vote, the European Commission had been provided with statements from the Netherlands which committed the country to delivering permanent headquarters on time.

They highlighted that if the commitments are not fulfilled, it will cause inconvenience and additional costs to the agency, along with “repercussions for citizens’ right to health, and obstacles to business continuity”.

Politico reported that a draft law on the relocation must pass through the European Parliament. It said that the European Commission sent a draft regulation to the European Parliament when it was decided that the agency would move to Amsterdam.

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