Two EU agencies; the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and European Banking Authority (EBA), will be moving from London to another EU country by March 2019.
Other European countries are now bidding to host these two agencies, such as Germany and Austria, and in November, the European Comission will assess the competing countries and make its recommendations.
This means that hundreds of jobs will be moving from these headquarters in Canary Wharf, London, along with significant revenue from hotel stays and conferences. The EMA had 36,000 visitors in 2015, and 30,000 hotel bookings were made with that, the European Council has said.
The Foreign Minister of Austria, Sebastian Kurz, said his country is a good option for the agencies as it is “already a terrific location for any international organisations,” and said; “We have wonderful general conditions in Vienna, and that’s why I consider that we are a very attractive location.”
But the EU is said to be keen on relocating some of its agencies to newer member states of Europe, in the Central and Easter areas Europe.
The EU agreed on this selection process after Teresa May had left the Brussels summit yesterday. The 27 other EU countries have said that the U.K. will have to pay the relocation bill as Brexit was a U.K. decision.