Magazine
Decision day for EU agencies relocation race
By Peter Teffer
The day that 1,000 staff members and their families, as well as 21 candidate countries, have been waiting for is here.
On Monday afternoon (20 November) the decision will be taken where the London-based European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Banking Authority (EBA) will move to by the time the UK leaves the EU in March 2019.
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Nineteen European cities want to host the EMA, while eight want to host the EBA.
During a ministerial meeting in Brussels, called the general affairs council, foreign affairs and EU affairs ministers will decide the two agencies' new homes, through up to three rounds of votes.
According to a source close to the presidency of the council, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the voting procedure is expected to last between 1.5 and 2 hours for each agency, with a 30 minute break in between.
It will be second on the agenda, after a state-of-play discussion on the Brexit negotiations. A press conference is scheduled for 19:30, but it could well be delayed.
"We have to order in some sandwiches before we have a result," said a second source, a senior EU official.
EUobserver has followed the campaign extensively, and put a spotlight on the EU agencies race in its annual Regions & Cities magazine, which can be read below.
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