by Peter O'Donnell
BRUSSELS, June 23 (APM) - A terse conclusion agreed at the EU summit on the evening of June 22 has likely robbed smaller and newer member states of their last chance of hosting the European Medicines Agency when it moves out of a post-Brexit London.
"The heads of state or government of 27 member states endorsed the procedure leading up to a decision on the relocation of the European Medicines Agency," it said.
But the procedure they endorsed has some crucial changes from widely-circulated previous drafts - and the changes tend to favour the candidature of big or more prosperous countries.
In particular, the emphasis now placed on connectivity and local infrastructure could weigh heavily against more remote or less developed countries.
A switch in the level at which the final decision will be made will also play against the interests of smaller countries.
An earlier EU summit already decided that the two agencies currently in the UK - the other one being the European Banking Authority (EBA) - would have to leave when Britain pulls out of the bloc (APMMA 52913), and the Council was tasked with drafting a procedure for deciding on where they should be relocated (APMMA 52798).
Because so many countries are keen on benefiting from the prestige and business opportunities that these two influential agencies confer on their host, the decision on where they should go has rapidly become a highly political issue.
The competition to win the EMA is so hot that the wording of the criteria for the decision has become a battle-ground in itself.
The final text adopted says - as in earlier drafts - that the decision "should be taken on the basis of a fair and transparent decision-making process" and that "all interested member states have the opportunity to submit their offer."
The lip service to fair shares is also maintained: the text acknowledges "the desirability of geographical spread and to the objective… to give priority to acceding States in the distribution of the seats of other agencies set up in the future."
But the new text underlines heavily the importance that the new site be ready to run from day one at the same level as the EMA operates at today.
So there is prominent attention to issues of availability, frequency and duration of flight connections from the capitals of all EU member states to the airports close to the location, and of local transportation, "as well as the quality and quantity of accommodation facilities".
"In particular, the criterion implies the capacity to allow for the continuation of the volume and intensity of current meeting activities of the agency."
Similar emphasis is now placed on education facilities for the children of agency staff, and job opportunities for spouses.
There is also new deliberate fuzziness introduced into the procedure, because it will now take place "on the basis of the stipulated unweighted criteria".
Removing the concept of "weighting" from the criteria leaves the process subjective rather than objective, allowing more influence for a political rather than a purely technical decision.
Given the negotiating power of the big and rich member states, that change strengthens their hand.
So too does a subtle change in the timetabling. The objective is still "to reach a decision on the new locations in the autumn of 2017".
But now "it is envisaged that the decision will be taken in the margins of the General Affairs Council in November 2017" - instead of the earlier planned date of October.
That means that EU leaders will now have a chance to debate the matter at their October summit - again reinforcing the clout of the big hitters.
The deadline for submissions remains at 31 July.
The document also stresses that the procedure is a one-off for this exceptional situation, and will not influence any other previous decisions on location of the EU's agencies - or any future decisions.
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