After an internal survey, EMA warned that a poor choice of location to host its new HQ after Brexit would create a “public health crisis” in the EU.
After UK voted for Brexit, about 19 cities in EU have asked to be host the agency, however according to the internal survey almost half of the proposed new headquarters would be unable to attract enough staff to function effectively. The survey was answered by the 92% of EMA staff showed under half of workers would be willing to move to nine of the candidate cities. For eight of those cities – which the EMA did not name – staff retention would be less than 30 per cent.
Only five of the candidate cities would be likely to see staff retention above 65 per cent, according to the survey.
The EMA stated: “The results of the survey emphasise the importance of the upcoming decision on the EMA’s future seat as the retention of skilled and experienced staff is crucial for the Agency’s continuity of operations”
The European Commission is due to publish its own assessment of all the bids later this month, with national governments making a final decision in November.

Source: Finacial Times