Government of Spain presents Barcelona's candidature to host new headquarters of European Medicines Agency

The Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality, headed up by Minister Dolors Montserrat, has formally presented Barcelona's candidature as the new headquarters of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), backed by the Government of Spain. Monday, 31 July is the last day to present candidatures and Spain has presented its technical proposal for the candidature to the European Council.

The proposal has been drawn up by the technical team charged with presenting the candidature, which is made up of representatives from the different departments of the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Regional Government of Catalonia and the City Council of Barcelona. The document focuses on explaining six criteria that are essential requirements for hosting the EMA. Furthermore, a seventh section has been added in which Spain's potential in innovation and research has been set out.

The first section of the text focuses on describing the building to house the agency - the Glòries Tower - a building with more than 30,000 m2, which is perfectly adapted to the requirements requested by the European Medicines Agency. Noteworthy is its location in the very heart of Barcelona, and its setting in the 22@ district. The building is ready for immediate occupation by the new tenants.

The second section is focused on describing the accessibility of the city of Barcelona and of the Glòries Tower. Barcelona has an airport that caters for 44 million passengers a year, with more than 100 airlines operating to more than 205 different destinations. Furthermore, El Prat Airport has daily flights to 21 European capitals, to Asia and to America. Another valuable feature is its railway connections to the rest of Spain, including high-speed trains, particularly the connection between Barcelona and Madrid which takes only two and a half hours. Also noteworthy is that the connection between the airport and the Glòries Tower in only 35 minutes.

The third and fourth sections describe all the services that the staff of the EMA would have in Barcelona available to their family members. Barcelona has 41 foreign language schools, of which 18 are international schools while another 21 are foreign language centres although they follow the local curriculum. The education offer also includes 312 nursery schools and nine universities. This section also specifies the high quality of the National Health System in Spain, together with all its corresponding social services. Finally, the housing offer in the city is set out in detail.

Strength of the Spanish Agency

The fifth section is one of the most important, since it describes the continuity plan offered by Spain in order to ensure that the EMA can continue operating and thus guarantee the safety of European patients. This section highlights the strength of our own Spanish Agency for Medication and Healthcare Products (Spanish acronym: AEMPS), one of the national agencies that currently works most closely with the EMA. In this regard, a coordination group will be set up between the AEMPS and the EMA in order for some of the work to be carried out in Spain during the transfer. To do this, the workforce of the Spanish agency will be increased, with an investment of almost 3 million euros. Furthermore, the proposal includes an offer to set up a landing office in London to prepare for the transfer of the almost 1,000 members of agency staff and their families.

Lastly, the proposal highlights the value of Spain's leading role in the sector of innovation and research, in which 200,000 people are currently working. For example, it underlines that Spain was the first country to develop national legislation on clinical trials and, furthermore, is the leader in clinical trials of advanced therapy medicinal products. This section also stresses the strength of our pharmaceutical industry, which is the leading sector in the country's productivity.