The chances for the EMA to move to Croatia seem minimal.
The European Commission published on Saturday its assessment of the bids for the headquarters of the two European agencies which are to be moved from London after the UK's exit from the EU, including Zagreb’s bid to host the headquarters of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), reports Jutarnji List on September 30, 2017.
For the two agencies, a total of 27 offers have been received, including 19 bids for the EMA. The other agency in question is the EBA (European Banking Authority).
The Commission has made an assessment based on the data provided by cities and members states. The analysis does not provide a ranking order of the cities but just indicates whether each bid meets the criteria agreed by EU heads of government at the summit in June this year. Based on the European Commission's assessment, the EU Council will hold a political debate in October, and the final decision will be taken in November.
Zagreb has met the first criterion – the building where the EMA would be located. The Sky Office on Zagreb Avenue has 32,000 square meters and, according to the offer, it meets all the needs of the EMA, but there is no data on the detailed criteria or when the building would be available to the EMA.
The second criterion is accessibility. The Commission says the Zagreb’s bid contains general information on available flights between Zagreb and most European capitals, without specifying which those cities are or how frequent the flights are. There is no information on the public transport connections between the airport and the proposed location. The offer says that Zagreb has 2,585 high category hotel rooms and 1,289 middle class hotel rooms.
As for opportunities for education of the EMA staff’s children, there are pre-school programmes in Croatian and English languages, elementary schools in German, French, Italian and English, without specifying the location of the schools. The bid does not contain information on kindergartens, but there is a possibility of establishing a kindergarten in the EMA building.
As for higher education, Zagreb offers 31 study programmes in foreign languages, but without providing details on the availability of these programmes in foreign languages. The bid also highlights the readiness of Croatian authorities to assist EMA staff’s children in enrollment at faculties.
The fourth criterion is the possibility of employment for spouses, as well as social security and healthcare. The Commission says that in Zagreb's bid there is no social security and healthcare information for children and spouses of people working for the EMA. The proposal offers Croatian scientific, research and development sector as opportunities for employment of spouses.
The fifth criterion is the smooth continuation of EMA's activities immediately after moving from London. The Zagreb bid does not include any time frame information. The offer just contains general information on the Croatian ICT and health sector regarding possible employment opportunities. It does not provide specific information on the EMA's ability to retain staff or information on how the agency would be operational during the transitional period.
The last criterion is the geographic distribution of European agencies. Zagreb is one of five European capitals without an agency headquarters.
Translated from Jutarnji List.
