The Brexit effect: the vote on the headquarters of the European agencies
The European Union’s banking and medicine agencies are moving. This is one of the direct consequences of the United Kingdom’s approaching departure from the European Union (Brexit). On Monday, November 20th, the 27 member states will vote on which European cities will be the new home of these two agencies.
The cites that have offered to host the European Banking Authority (EBA) are Brussels, Dublin, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Paris, Prague, Vienna and Warsaw. The candidates for the headquarters of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) are Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Bonn, Bratislava, Brussels, Bucharest, Copenhagen, Dublin, Stockholm, Helsinki, Lille, Malta, Milan, Port, Sofia, Vienna, Warsaw and Zagreb. A total of 23 cities are taking part in the vote.
Milan is among the favorites and is well positioned to win the vote for the medicines agency, while Frankfurt has a good chance of hosting the banking authority, according to Politico. Frankfurt is also the headquarters of the European Central Bank, the eurozone’s banking supervisor.
The vote will take place at the EU General Affairs Council in Brussels and the European Parliament will have to approve the results. Voting will consist of a series of successive rounds, as many as necessary, in which the vote will be secret and each of the 27 member states will have the same number of votes.
The EMA is responsible for the scientific evaluation, supervision and security of medicine in the European Union. The EBA is charged with the regulation and prudential supervision of banks, in a manner that is consistent and effective. The EBA’s functions include detecting risks and vulnerabilities in the financial system through periodic bank stress tests.