European Commission publishes assessment of Member State offers to host European Banking Authority and European Medicines Agency after Brexit – Questions and Answers

The decision to relocate the European Medicines Agency i (EMA) and the European Banking Authority i (EBA) is for the governments of the 27 Member States to take. According to the procedure agreed by the Member States in the European Council on 22 June 2017, the Commission was requested to assess the submitted offers against the agreed criteria.

The Commission's assessment constitutes a factual and objective contribution that the EU27 Member States can take into account when they make their decision on the new locations of the two agencies.

What documents have you published?

The Commission has published:

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  Individual assessment summaries for each of the 27 offers;
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  A general assessment summary providing an overview of all offers, allowing for comparisons to be made more easily;
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  27 assessment grids providing more detailed information on specific issues.

Why has the Commission not ranked the offers or provided a shortlist of the best offers?

The Commission has acted in accordance with the decision of the 27 EU Member States on 22 June 2017 which does not ask the Commission to rank the offers or to make a shortlist of offers.

Has the Commission consulted the two agencies?

Yes - as foreseen in the EU27 Member States' decision of 22 June 2017. When examining the offers, the Commission asked the two agencies to provide technical comments on the technical requirements concerning the proposed buildings and on the proposed relocation plans. The two agencies have provided their technical comments and with the agencies' agreement, these have been published on the Commission's website today.

Some of the documents are not published in full. Why?

Some of the Member States who have submitted offers indicated that their offer contained information which they considered to be confidential. This information mainly concerns business secrets about the proposed buildings as well as details on the offered conditions. According to the requests of the Member States concerned, this information has been left out of the published documents.

Why do the two agencies have to be relocated?

European Union agencies must be based in the European Union. As the United Kingdom has notified the European Council under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union of its intention to leave the Union, it is necessary to move the two United Kingdom-based Agencies to other locations within the Union's territory. Agencies cannot be located outside the territory to which their competences apply. The United Kingdom will have no say when it comes to the location of the EU Agencies.

What do the EBA and EMA do?

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) plays an essential role in protecting human and animal health in the EU, by evaluating and supervising human and veterinary medicinal products in the Single Market. While it does not conduct research itself, it evaluates new medicines before they are authorised in the European Union and monitors their safety. It also stimulates research and innovation by giving scientific advice and guidance to developers of medicines.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) aims to ensure effective and consistent prudential regulation and supervision across the European banking sector. Its overall objectives are to maintain financial stability in the EU and to safeguard the integrity, efficiency and orderly functioning of the banking sector. The main task of the EBA is to contribute to the creation of the European Single Rulebook in banking, whose objective is to provide a single set of harmonised prudential rules for financial institutions throughout the EU.

What are the next steps?

On the basis of the Commission's assessment, the Council will have a political discussion at the General Affairs Council (Article 50 format) in October 2017. A final decision will be taken at the General Affairs Council (Article 50 format) in November 2017.

MEMO/17/3584