Government of Spain, Regional Government of Catalonia and Barcelona City Council promote city's bid to house headquarters of European Medicines Agency

Following the Council of Ministers on 22 July, the Government of Spain committed to coordinating actions to promote Barcelona as the future headquarters for this European agency. The President of the Government, Mariano Rajoy, has already announced his full support for Barcelona's bid.

Barcelona meets the requirements needed by the EMA in terms of connectivity, communications, transport and infrastructure, as well as those for the almost 900 professionals who work at the agency.
Furthermore, Barcelona is home to numerous businesses in this sector and a highly significant part of the Spanish pharmaceutical industry. At present, the pharmaceutical industry is one of the main assets of Catalan industry and a driving force for R&D+i, as well as responsible for close on 21,200 direct and indirect jobs. Hence, Barcelona meets all the conditions to become the headquarters for this agency.

Basing the European Medicines Agency in Barcelona would be a significant boost for economic and social development in the city, and therefore Catalonia and Spain as a whole. The agency is also surrounded by an ecosystem of over 1,600 companies that could decide to relocate. This European headquarters also receives over 40,000 visitors each year.

Barcelona already runner-up

This is not the first time that Barcelona has presented a bid to house the European Medicines Agency. Set-up of the EMA began back in 1992 when, within the framework of the Olympic Games of that year, Barcelona presented its previous bid. The city came second in that process, which was won by London.

One of the consequences stemming from Brexit is that official European bodies currently located in the United Kingdom, such as the EMA (a body for the scientific assessment, oversight and safety control for medicines in the EU), are undergoing a relocation process.

For this reason and since 29 March, when formal negotiations began on the withdrawal by the United Kingdom from the European Union, the agency will be required to leave the city of London and has launched a process for the presentation of bids from other cities.

The Government of Spain, Regional Government of Catalonia and Barcelona City Council are fully committed to this project and are working together towards a successful outcome from a joint project from Barcelona, Catalonia and Spain. This was confirmed at Monday's meeting, which was also attended by the General Secretary for Healthcare and Consumer Affairs, Javier Castrodeza, and the Government Representative in Catalonia, Enric Millo.