“Amsterdam wins EU medicines agency race on toss of coin

The headquarters of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) will be moved to Amsterdam, EU affairs ministers announced on Monday (20 November).

Amsterdam won after a coin toss, after it ended with an equal number of votes with Milan in the third round of voting.

Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Milan had made it through to the second round, after securing the most votes, but no majority.

In a complex voting system, ministers had three votes to distribute during the first round, worth three, two, and one points. Only if a candidate had secured fourteen three-point votes, would it had been chosen immediately.

In the first round, Milan received a total of 25 points while Amsterdam and Copenhagen received twenty votes each. Bratislava reportedly received 15; Barcelona 13; Stockholm 12; Athens 10; Porto 10; Warsaw and Bucharest 7; Brussels and Helsinki 5; Vienna 4; and Bonn, Lille and Sofia 3.

Who voted for which is confidential, but it stands to reason that Germany, France, and Bulgaria each gave their three-point votes to themselves, meaning that no other country voted for them.

In the second round, Copenhagen was eliminated. Neither Milan or Amsterdam managed to have a majority.

A total of 19 member states had submitted a bid to host EMA, but shortly before the meeting Croatia, Ireland and Malta withdrew their candidacies.

The London-based EMA needs a new location for its headquarters, because the United Kingdom is expected to leave the EU in early 2019.

The decision follows months of intensive lobbying.

It means that some 890 staff members will now have to decided whether to stay with the agency – and thus move to Amsterdam – or find another job.

According to an internal poll, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Milan were among the five most popular cities with the staff, with over 65 percent of them saying they would stay with their employer.

Later on Monday evening, ministers will proceed to also select a new location for the London-based European Banking Authority.”

Published by euobserver.com