<\/a><\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brussels wanted to keep the race for Brexit\u2019s biggest spoils from turning into a feeding-frenzy for self-interested member countries.<\/p>\n
It failed.<\/p>\n
The race to host the European Medicines Agency and the European Banking Authority has turned \u2014 as with so many such high-profile decisions in the EU \u2014 into a political bazaar, where favors, money and jobs are traded. Diplomats don\u2019t want to spoil their sweetheart deals by being too explicit, but proffered gifts range from NATO troops to support for Eurogroup presidency bids. <\/p>\n
The Council of the EU, on behalf of the 27 remaining member countries, set out to create a transparent process. They drafted the Commission to evaluate bids by using objective criteria. But they left the ultimate decision up to political leaders to avoid appearances of a Brussels-engineered fait accompli.<\/p>\n
The result: This so-called objective analysis of the merits of each aspirant has been set to the side ahead of Monday\u2019s vote in Brussels to settle on new locations for these agencies.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy now you do not really have to explain much about your own bid anymore. Everybody knows what\u2019s on the table,\u201d said Wouter Bos, the Netherlands\u2019 special ambassador for the EMA. Talks are now centered on \u201ctrying to get as much certainty as you can about how countries will vote on the 20th.\u201d<\/p>\n
Primed for betrayal
\nThat will be hard to come by.<\/p>\n
Monday afternoon\u2019s General Affairs Council vote involves three rounds of voting on the 19 bids for the drugs regulator. Up next is the eight-city contest for the banking watchdog. Balloting is secret, with points for countries to give away even after they vote for themselves. The only thing that is certain: Both agencies can\u2019t go to the same country.<\/p>\n
The process is primed for surprise and betrayal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe vote regarding the relocation of the EMA and EBA will be a political one, expressed depending on the general and current interests of each member state,\u201d said Victor Negrescu, Romanian minister-delegate for EU affairs.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, the debate was about whether the new host country could provide a smooth transition for the agencies and how EU agencies should be spread fairly across the bloc. The EU27 haggled over technical criteria. Now talks are taking on the tone of the chaotic bazaar that Council President Donald Tusk tried to avoid.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe more you have the buy-in of your prime minister or the highest political level, the more things are on the table and anything can be traded,\u201d one national diplomat in Brussels said.<\/p>\n
There are many possible gifts on the table, including top jobs at other agencies and votes on other EU legislation.<\/p>\n
Brussels diplomats swap stories of Italy\u2019s deli-style platter of sweeteners for countries willing to back Milan\u2019s EMA candidacy. Whispered offers range from things a country can\u2019t actually guarantee \u2014 like job slots for nationals at the drugs regulator \u2014 to those that have nothing to do with the EMA, like deploying more NATO troops to the Baltics. (That region has potential to play kingmaker \u2014 or at least propel a bid into the second round \u2014 because Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania aren\u2019t bidding for either agency, and are eager to boost NATO\u2019s presence there.)<\/p>\n
Only Amsterdam, Milan, Vienna, Copenhagen and Barcelona would draw more than two-thirds of the current 900 employees.<\/p>\n
Italian and Dutch officials don\u2019t deny offering gifts in the form of aid to potential supporters, even as they refused to describe specific offers.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course there are bilateral negotiations and we also listen to what other countries expect from us on certain issues, notably linked to European affairs,\u201d Italy\u2019s EU Affairs Minister Sandro Gozi told POLITICO.<\/p>\n
Bos declined to get into specifics, but did say that \u201csome countries have a wish list, others don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amsterdam and Milan are sweetening the pot, even as both came out on top in various surveys and analyses of the bids conducted by the EMA and distributed by the Commission. According to a September survey of whether EMA staff would likely relocate to the candidate cities, only Amsterdam, Milan, Vienna, Copenhagen and Barcelona would draw more than two-thirds of the current 900 employees \u2014 the minimum needed for a smooth transition, the agency said. (The political crisis in Catalonia this fall destroyed Barcelona\u2019s once-formidable candidacy.)<\/p>\n
Bratislava\u2019s Eastern empire
\nSlovakia\u2019s capital got the same top marks in an EMA technical analysis of facilities as most of those staff favorites (even besting Vienna). It\u2019s emerged as an unexpected front-runner \u2014 helped by something it lacks. It\u2019s one of just four EMA applications from countries that don\u2019t already have an EU agency \u2014 the final of six criteria agreed by member countries that otherwise emphasized business operations and staff retention. Bratislava already has voting commitments from Hungary and the Czech Republic in a show of Visegrad solidarity.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s making the other leaders very nervous.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are some bids which are very strong on technical grounds. Among these you can find Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Barcelona, Milan,\u201d Italy\u2019s Gozi said. He continued, \u201cAnd then you have an initiative which is basically only based on geopolitical grounds and a very misleading concept of fairness, which is Bratislava.\u201d<\/p>\n
Slovakia\u2019s permanent representative to the EU Peter Javor\u010dik called the emphasis on evenly distributing agencies to new member states \u201cvery fair.\u201d Member countries agreed to criteria that include geographic spread. Council conclusions have repeatedly called for future agencies to go to those without them, he noted.<\/p>\n
A general view over the Canary Wharf financial district in London, where the EMA is currently based | Dan Kitwood\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think that we should get into the kind of negative campaign mode,\u201d Javor\u010dik said in an interview. However, asked about the bargaining, he said, \u201cWe don\u2019t bring these type of \u2026 bilateral or open issues\u201d into the EMA discussion.<\/p>\n
Javor\u010dik pointedly said Slovakia already d..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health"],"yoast_head":"\n
Fight! It\u2019s the EU agency free-for-all - Business News Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Brussels wanted to keep the race for Brexit\u2019s biggest spoils from turning into a feeding-frenzy for self-interested member countries. It failed. The race to host the European Medicines Agency and the European Banking Authority has turned \u2014 as with so many such high-profile decisions in the EU \u2014 into a political bazaar, where favors, money and jobs are traded. Diplomats don\u2019t want to spoil their sweetheart deals by being too explicit, but proffered gifts range from NATO troops to support for Eurogroup presidency bids. The Council of the EU, on behalf of the 27 remaining member countries, set out to create a transparent process. They drafted the Commission to evaluate bids by using objective criteria. But they left the ultimate decision up to political leaders to avoid appearances of a Brussels-engineered fait accompli. The result: This so-called objective analysis of the merits of each aspirant has been set to the side ahead of Monday\u2019s vote in Brussels to settle on new locations for these agencies. \u201cBy now you do not really have to explain much about your own bid anymore. Everybody knows what\u2019s on the table,\u201d said Wouter Bos, the Netherlands\u2019 special ambassador for the EMA. Talks are now centered on \u201ctrying to get as much certainty as you can about how countries will vote on the 20th.\u201d Primed for betrayal That will be hard to come by. Monday afternoon\u2019s General Affairs Council vote involves three rounds of voting on the 19 bids for the drugs regulator. Up next is the eight-city contest for the banking watchdog. Balloting is secret, with points for countries to give away even after they vote for themselves. The only thing that is certain: Both agencies can\u2019t go to the same country. The process is primed for surprise and betrayal. \u201cThe vote regarding the relocation of the EMA and EBA will be a political one, expressed depending on the general and current interests of each member state,\u201d said Victor Negrescu, Romanian minister-delegate for EU affairs. Earlier this year, the debate was about whether the new host country could provide a smooth transition for the agencies and how EU agencies should be spread fairly across the bloc. The EU27 haggled over technical criteria. Now talks are taking on the tone of the chaotic bazaar that Council President Donald Tusk tried to avoid. \u201cThe more you have the buy-in of your prime minister or the highest political level, the more things are on the table and anything can be traded,\u201d one national diplomat in Brussels said. There are many possible gifts on the table, including top jobs at other agencies and votes on other EU legislation. Brussels diplomats swap stories of Italy\u2019s deli-style platter of sweeteners for countries willing to back Milan\u2019s EMA candidacy. Whispered offers range from things a country can\u2019t actually guarantee \u2014 like job slots for nationals at the drugs regulator \u2014 to those that have nothing to do with the EMA, like deploying more NATO troops to the Baltics. (That region has potential to play kingmaker \u2014 or at least propel a bid into the second round \u2014 because Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania aren\u2019t bidding for either agency, and are eager to boost NATO\u2019s presence there.) Only Amsterdam, Milan, Vienna, Copenhagen and Barcelona would draw more than two-thirds of the current 900 employees. Italian and Dutch officials don\u2019t deny offering gifts in the form of aid to potential supporters, even as they refused to describe specific offers. \u201cOf course there are bilateral negotiations and we also listen to what other countries expect from us on certain issues, notably linked to European affairs,\u201d Italy\u2019s EU Affairs Minister Sandro Gozi told POLITICO. Bos declined to get into specifics, but did say that \u201csome countries have a wish list, others don\u2019t.\u201d Amsterdam and Milan are sweetening the pot, even as both came out on top in various surveys and analyses of the bids conducted by the EMA and distributed by the Commission. According to a September survey of whether EMA staff would likely relocate to the candidate cities, only Amsterdam, Milan, Vienna, Copenhagen and Barcelona would draw more than two-thirds of the current 900 employees \u2014 the minimum needed for a smooth transition, the agency said. (The political crisis in Catalonia this fall destroyed Barcelona\u2019s once-formidable candidacy.) Bratislava\u2019s Eastern empire Slovakia\u2019s capital got the same top marks in an EMA technical analysis of facilities as most of those staff favorites (even besting Vienna). It\u2019s emerged as an unexpected front-runner \u2014 helped by something it lacks. It\u2019s one of just four EMA applications from countries that don\u2019t already have an EU agency \u2014 the final of six criteria agreed by member countries that otherwise emphasized business operations and staff retention. Bratislava already has voting commitments from Hungary and the Czech Republic in a show of Visegrad solidarity. That\u2019s making the other leaders very nervous. \u201cThere are some bids which are very strong on technical grounds. Among these you can find Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Barcelona, Milan,\u201d Italy\u2019s Gozi said. He continued, \u201cAnd then you have an initiative which is basically only based on geopolitical grounds and a very misleading concept of fairness, which is Bratislava.\u201d Slovakia\u2019s permanent representative to the EU Peter Javor\u010dik called the emphasis on evenly distributing agencies to new member states \u201cvery fair.\u201d Member countries agreed to criteria that include geographic spread. Council conclusions have repeatedly called for future agencies to go to those without them, he noted. A general view over the Canary Wharf financial district in London, where the EMA is currently based | Dan Kitwood\/Getty Images \u201cI don\u2019t think that we should get into the kind of negative campaign mode,\u201d Javor\u010dik said in an interview. However, asked about the bargaining, he said, \u201cWe don\u2019t bring these type of \u2026 bilateral or open issues\u201d into the EMA discussion. Javor\u010dik pointedly said Slovakia already d..\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/fight-its-the-eu-agency-free-for-all\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fight! It\u2019s the EU agency free-for-all - Business News Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Brussels wanted to keep the race for Brexit\u2019s biggest spoils from turning into a feeding-frenzy for self-interested member countries. It failed. The race to host the European Medicines Agency and the European Banking Authority has turned \u2014 as with so many such high-profile decisions in the EU \u2014 into a political bazaar, where favors, money and jobs are traded. Diplomats don\u2019t want to spoil their sweetheart deals by being too explicit, but proffered gifts range from NATO troops to support for Eurogroup presidency bids. The Council of the EU, on behalf of the 27 remaining member countries, set out to create a transparent process. They drafted the Commission to evaluate bids by using objective criteria. But they left the ultimate decision up to political leaders to avoid appearances of a Brussels-engineered fait accompli. The result: This so-called objective analysis of the merits of each aspirant has been set to the side ahead of Monday\u2019s vote in Brussels to settle on new locations for these agencies. \u201cBy now you do not really have to explain much about your own bid anymore. Everybody knows what\u2019s on the table,\u201d said Wouter Bos, the Netherlands\u2019 special ambassador for the EMA. Talks are now centered on \u201ctrying to get as much certainty as you can about how countries will vote on the 20th.\u201d Primed for betrayal That will be hard to come by. Monday afternoon\u2019s General Affairs Council vote involves three rounds of voting on the 19 bids for the drugs regulator. Up next is the eight-city contest for the banking watchdog. Balloting is secret, with points for countries to give away even after they vote for themselves. The only thing that is certain: Both agencies can\u2019t go to the same country. The process is primed for surprise and betrayal. \u201cThe vote regarding the relocation of the EMA and EBA will be a political one, expressed depending on the general and current interests of each member state,\u201d said Victor Negrescu, Romanian minister-delegate for EU affairs. Earlier this year, the debate was about whether the new host country could provide a smooth transition for the agencies and how EU agencies should be spread fairly across the bloc. The EU27 haggled over technical criteria. Now talks are taking on the tone of the chaotic bazaar that Council President Donald Tusk tried to avoid. \u201cThe more you have the buy-in of your prime minister or the highest political level, the more things are on the table and anything can be traded,\u201d one national diplomat in Brussels said. There are many possible gifts on the table, including top jobs at other agencies and votes on other EU legislation. Brussels diplomats swap stories of Italy\u2019s deli-style platter of sweeteners for countries willing to back Milan\u2019s EMA candidacy. Whispered offers range from things a country can\u2019t actually guarantee \u2014 like job slots for nationals at the drugs regulator \u2014 to those that have nothing to do with the EMA, like deploying more NATO troops to the Baltics. (That region has potential to play kingmaker \u2014 or at least propel a bid into the second round \u2014 because Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania aren\u2019t bidding for either agency, and are eager to boost NATO\u2019s presence there.) Only Amsterdam, Milan, Vienna, Copenhagen and Barcelona would draw more than two-thirds of the current 900 employees. Italian and Dutch officials don\u2019t deny offering gifts in the form of aid to potential supporters, even as they refused to describe specific offers. \u201cOf course there are bilateral negotiations and we also listen to what other countries expect from us on certain issues, notably linked to European affairs,\u201d Italy\u2019s EU Affairs Minister Sandro Gozi told POLITICO. Bos declined to get into specifics, but did say that \u201csome countries have a wish list, others don\u2019t.\u201d Amsterdam and Milan are sweetening the pot, even as both came out on top in various surveys and analyses of the bids conducted by the EMA and distributed by the Commission. According to a September survey of whether EMA staff would likely relocate to the candidate cities, only Amsterdam, Milan, Vienna, Copenhagen and Barcelona would draw more than two-thirds of the current 900 employees \u2014 the minimum needed for a smooth transition, the agency said. (The political crisis in Catalonia this fall destroyed Barcelona\u2019s once-formidable candidacy.) Bratislava\u2019s Eastern empire Slovakia\u2019s capital got the same top marks in an EMA technical analysis of facilities as most of those staff favorites (even besting Vienna). It\u2019s emerged as an unexpected front-runner \u2014 helped by something it lacks. It\u2019s one of just four EMA applications from countries that don\u2019t already have an EU agency \u2014 the final of six criteria agreed by member countries that otherwise emphasized business operations and staff retention. Bratislava already has voting commitments from Hungary and the Czech Republic in a show of Visegrad solidarity. That\u2019s making the other leaders very nervous. \u201cThere are some bids which are very strong on technical grounds. Among these you can find Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Barcelona, Milan,\u201d Italy\u2019s Gozi said. He continued, \u201cAnd then you have an initiative which is basically only based on geopolitical grounds and a very misleading concept of fairness, which is Bratislava.\u201d Slovakia\u2019s permanent representative to the EU Peter Javor\u010dik called the emphasis on evenly distributing agencies to new member states \u201cvery fair.\u201d Member countries agreed to criteria that include geographic spread. Council conclusions have repeatedly called for future agencies to go to those without them, he noted. A general view over the Canary Wharf financial district in London, where the EMA is currently based | Dan Kitwood\/Getty Images \u201cI don\u2019t think that we should get into the kind of negative campaign mode,\u201d Javor\u010dik said in an interview. However, asked about the bargaining, he said, \u201cWe don\u2019t bring these type of \u2026 bilateral or open issues\u201d into the EMA discussion. Javor\u010dik pointedly said Slovakia already d..\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/fight-its-the-eu-agency-free-for-all\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Business News Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Business-NewsReport-328225811095934\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-11-26T18:35:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-11-26T18:35:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/EU_agency_voting_procedure-714x758-3.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"infopal11\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@BNReport\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@BNReport\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"infopal11\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/fight-its-the-eu-agency-free-for-all\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/fight-its-the-eu-agency-free-for-all\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"infopal11\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/19d1c5a2dd7f60584a09de4a7805d68f\"},\"headline\":\"Fight! 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It\u2019s the EU agency free-for-all - Business News Report\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/fight-its-the-eu-agency-free-for-all\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/fight-its-the-eu-agency-free-for-all\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/11\\\/EU_agency_voting_procedure-714x758-3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-11-26T18:35:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-11-26T18:35:19+00:00\",\"description\":\"Brussels wanted to keep the race for Brexit\u2019s biggest spoils from turning into a feeding-frenzy for self-interested member countries. It failed. The race to host the European Medicines Agency and the European Banking Authority has turned \u2014 as with so many such high-profile decisions in the EU \u2014 into a political bazaar, where favors, money and jobs are traded. Diplomats don\u2019t want to spoil their sweetheart deals by being too explicit, but proffered gifts range from NATO troops to support for Eurogroup presidency bids. The Council of the EU, on behalf of the 27 remaining member countries, set out to create a transparent process. They drafted the Commission to evaluate bids by using objective criteria. But they left the ultimate decision up to political leaders to avoid appearances of a Brussels-engineered fait accompli. The result: This so-called objective analysis of the merits of each aspirant has been set to the side ahead of Monday\u2019s vote in Brussels to settle on new locations for these agencies. \u201cBy now you do not really have to explain much about your own bid anymore. Everybody knows what\u2019s on the table,\u201d said Wouter Bos, the Netherlands\u2019 special ambassador for the EMA. Talks are now centered on \u201ctrying to get as much certainty as you can about how countries will vote on the 20th.\u201d Primed for betrayal That will be hard to come by. Monday afternoon\u2019s General Affairs Council vote involves three rounds of voting on the 19 bids for the drugs regulator. Up next is the eight-city contest for the banking watchdog. Balloting is secret, with points for countries to give away even after they vote for themselves. The only thing that is certain: Both agencies can\u2019t go to the same country. The process is primed for surprise and betrayal. \u201cThe vote regarding the relocation of the EMA and EBA will be a political one, expressed depending on the general and current interests of each member state,\u201d said Victor Negrescu, Romanian minister-delegate for EU affairs. Earlier this year, the debate was about whether the new host country could provide a smooth transition for the agencies and how EU agencies should be spread fairly across the bloc. The EU27 haggled over technical criteria. Now talks are taking on the tone of the chaotic bazaar that Council President Donald Tusk tried to avoid. \u201cThe more you have the buy-in of your prime minister or the highest political level, the more things are on the table and anything can be traded,\u201d one national diplomat in Brussels said. There are many possible gifts on the table, including top jobs at other agencies and votes on other EU legislation. Brussels diplomats swap stories of Italy\u2019s deli-style platter of sweeteners for countries willing to back Milan\u2019s EMA candidacy. Whispered offers range from things a country can\u2019t actually guarantee \u2014 like job slots for nationals at the drugs regulator \u2014 to those that have nothing to do with the EMA, like deploying more NATO troops to the Baltics. (That region has potential to play kingmaker \u2014 or at least propel a bid into the second round \u2014 because Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania aren\u2019t bidding for either agency, and are eager to boost NATO\u2019s presence there.) Only Amsterdam, Milan, Vienna, Copenhagen and Barcelona would draw more than two-thirds of the current 900 employees. Italian and Dutch officials don\u2019t deny offering gifts in the form of aid to potential supporters, even as they refused to describe specific offers. \u201cOf course there are bilateral negotiations and we also listen to what other countries expect from us on certain issues, notably linked to European affairs,\u201d Italy\u2019s EU Affairs Minister Sandro Gozi told POLITICO. Bos declined to get into specifics, but did say that \u201csome countries have a wish list, others don\u2019t.\u201d Amsterdam and Milan are sweetening the pot, even as both came out on top in various surveys and analyses of the bids conducted by the EMA and distributed by the Commission. According to a September survey of whether EMA staff would likely relocate to the candidate cities, only Amsterdam, Milan, Vienna, Copenhagen and Barcelona would draw more than two-thirds of the current 900 employees \u2014 the minimum needed for a smooth transition, the agency said. (The political crisis in Catalonia this fall destroyed Barcelona\u2019s once-formidable candidacy.) Bratislava\u2019s Eastern empire Slovakia\u2019s capital got the same top marks in an EMA technical analysis of facilities as most of those staff favorites (even besting Vienna). It\u2019s emerged as an unexpected front-runner \u2014 helped by something it lacks. It\u2019s one of just four EMA applications from countries that don\u2019t already have an EU agency \u2014 the final of six criteria agreed by member countries that otherwise emphasized business operations and staff retention. Bratislava already has voting commitments from Hungary and the Czech Republic in a show of Visegrad solidarity. That\u2019s making the other leaders very nervous. \u201cThere are some bids which are very strong on technical grounds. Among these you can find Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Barcelona, Milan,\u201d Italy\u2019s Gozi said. He continued, \u201cAnd then you have an initiative which is basically only based on geopolitical grounds and a very misleading concept of fairness, which is Bratislava.\u201d Slovakia\u2019s permanent representative to the EU Peter Javor\u010dik called the emphasis on evenly distributing agencies to new member states \u201cvery fair.\u201d Member countries agreed to criteria that include geographic spread. Council conclusions have repeatedly called for future agencies to go to those without them, he noted. A general view over the Canary Wharf financial district in London, where the EMA is currently based | Dan Kitwood\\\/Getty Images \u201cI don\u2019t think that we should get into the kind of negative campaign mode,\u201d Javor\u010dik said in an interview. However, asked about the bargaining, he said, \u201cWe don\u2019t bring these type of \u2026 bilateral or open issues\u201d into the EMA discussion. 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It\u2019s the EU agency free-for-all - Business News Report","description":"Brussels wanted to keep the race for Brexit\u2019s biggest spoils from turning into a feeding-frenzy for self-interested member countries. It failed. The race to host the European Medicines Agency and the European Banking Authority has turned \u2014 as with so many such high-profile decisions in the EU \u2014 into a political bazaar, where favors, money and jobs are traded. Diplomats don\u2019t want to spoil their sweetheart deals by being too explicit, but proffered gifts range from NATO troops to support for Eurogroup presidency bids. The Council of the EU, on behalf of the 27 remaining member countries, set out to create a transparent process. They drafted the Commission to evaluate bids by using objective criteria. But they left the ultimate decision up to political leaders to avoid appearances of a Brussels-engineered fait accompli. The result: This so-called objective analysis of the merits of each aspirant has been set to the side ahead of Monday\u2019s vote in Brussels to settle on new locations for these agencies. \u201cBy now you do not really have to explain much about your own bid anymore. Everybody knows what\u2019s on the table,\u201d said Wouter Bos, the Netherlands\u2019 special ambassador for the EMA. Talks are now centered on \u201ctrying to get as much certainty as you can about how countries will vote on the 20th.\u201d Primed for betrayal That will be hard to come by. Monday afternoon\u2019s General Affairs Council vote involves three rounds of voting on the 19 bids for the drugs regulator. Up next is the eight-city contest for the banking watchdog. Balloting is secret, with points for countries to give away even after they vote for themselves. The only thing that is certain: Both agencies can\u2019t go to the same country. The process is primed for surprise and betrayal. \u201cThe vote regarding the relocation of the EMA and EBA will be a political one, expressed depending on the general and current interests of each member state,\u201d said Victor Negrescu, Romanian minister-delegate for EU affairs. Earlier this year, the debate was about whether the new host country could provide a smooth transition for the agencies and how EU agencies should be spread fairly across the bloc. The EU27 haggled over technical criteria. Now talks are taking on the tone of the chaotic bazaar that Council President Donald Tusk tried to avoid. \u201cThe more you have the buy-in of your prime minister or the highest political level, the more things are on the table and anything can be traded,\u201d one national diplomat in Brussels said. There are many possible gifts on the table, including top jobs at other agencies and votes on other EU legislation. Brussels diplomats swap stories of Italy\u2019s deli-style platter of sweeteners for countries willing to back Milan\u2019s EMA candidacy. Whispered offers range from things a country can\u2019t actually guarantee \u2014 like job slots for nationals at the drugs regulator \u2014 to those that have nothing to do with the EMA, like deploying more NATO troops to the Baltics. (That region has potential to play kingmaker \u2014 or at least propel a bid into the second round \u2014 because Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania aren\u2019t bidding for either agency, and are eager to boost NATO\u2019s presence there.) Only Amsterdam, Milan, Vienna, Copenhagen and Barcelona would draw more than two-thirds of the current 900 employees. Italian and Dutch officials don\u2019t deny offering gifts in the form of aid to potential supporters, even as they refused to describe specific offers. \u201cOf course there are bilateral negotiations and we also listen to what other countries expect from us on certain issues, notably linked to European affairs,\u201d Italy\u2019s EU Affairs Minister Sandro Gozi told POLITICO. Bos declined to get into specifics, but did say that \u201csome countries have a wish list, others don\u2019t.\u201d Amsterdam and Milan are sweetening the pot, even as both came out on top in various surveys and analyses of the bids conducted by the EMA and distributed by the Commission. According to a September survey of whether EMA staff would likely relocate to the candidate cities, only Amsterdam, Milan, Vienna, Copenhagen and Barcelona would draw more than two-thirds of the current 900 employees \u2014 the minimum needed for a smooth transition, the agency said. (The political crisis in Catalonia this fall destroyed Barcelona\u2019s once-formidable candidacy.) Bratislava\u2019s Eastern empire Slovakia\u2019s capital got the same top marks in an EMA technical analysis of facilities as most of those staff favorites (even besting Vienna). It\u2019s emerged as an unexpected front-runner \u2014 helped by something it lacks. It\u2019s one of just four EMA applications from countries that don\u2019t already have an EU agency \u2014 the final of six criteria agreed by member countries that otherwise emphasized business operations and staff retention. Bratislava already has voting commitments from Hungary and the Czech Republic in a show of Visegrad solidarity. That\u2019s making the other leaders very nervous. \u201cThere are some bids which are very strong on technical grounds. Among these you can find Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Barcelona, Milan,\u201d Italy\u2019s Gozi said. He continued, \u201cAnd then you have an initiative which is basically only based on geopolitical grounds and a very misleading concept of fairness, which is Bratislava.\u201d Slovakia\u2019s permanent representative to the EU Peter Javor\u010dik called the emphasis on evenly distributing agencies to new member states \u201cvery fair.\u201d Member countries agreed to criteria that include geographic spread. Council conclusions have repeatedly called for future agencies to go to those without them, he noted. A general view over the Canary Wharf financial district in London, where the EMA is currently based | Dan Kitwood\/Getty Images \u201cI don\u2019t think that we should get into the kind of negative campaign mode,\u201d Javor\u010dik said in an interview. However, asked about the bargaining, he said, \u201cWe don\u2019t bring these type of \u2026 bilateral or open issues\u201d into the EMA discussion. Javor\u010dik pointedly said Slovakia already d..","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/fight-its-the-eu-agency-free-for-all\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Fight! It\u2019s the EU agency free-for-all - Business News Report","og_description":"Brussels wanted to keep the race for Brexit\u2019s biggest spoils from turning into a feeding-frenzy for self-interested member countries. It failed. The race to host the European Medicines Agency and the European Banking Authority has turned \u2014 as with so many such high-profile decisions in the EU \u2014 into a political bazaar, where favors, money and jobs are traded. Diplomats don\u2019t want to spoil their sweetheart deals by being too explicit, but proffered gifts range from NATO troops to support for Eurogroup presidency bids. The Council of the EU, on behalf of the 27 remaining member countries, set out to create a transparent process. They drafted the Commission to evaluate bids by using objective criteria. But they left the ultimate decision up to political leaders to avoid appearances of a Brussels-engineered fait accompli. The result: This so-called objective analysis of the merits of each aspirant has been set to the side ahead of Monday\u2019s vote in Brussels to settle on new locations for these agencies. \u201cBy now you do not really have to explain much about your own bid anymore. Everybody knows what\u2019s on the table,\u201d said Wouter Bos, the Netherlands\u2019 special ambassador for the EMA. Talks are now centered on \u201ctrying to get as much certainty as you can about how countries will vote on the 20th.\u201d Primed for betrayal That will be hard to come by. Monday afternoon\u2019s General Affairs Council vote involves three rounds of voting on the 19 bids for the drugs regulator. Up next is the eight-city contest for the banking watchdog. Balloting is secret, with points for countries to give away even after they vote for themselves. The only thing that is certain: Both agencies can\u2019t go to the same country. The process is primed for surprise and betrayal. \u201cThe vote regarding the relocation of the EMA and EBA will be a political one, expressed depending on the general and current interests of each member state,\u201d said Victor Negrescu, Romanian minister-delegate for EU affairs. Earlier this year, the debate was about whether the new host country could provide a smooth transition for the agencies and how EU agencies should be spread fairly across the bloc. The EU27 haggled over technical criteria. Now talks are taking on the tone of the chaotic bazaar that Council President Donald Tusk tried to avoid. \u201cThe more you have the buy-in of your prime minister or the highest political level, the more things are on the table and anything can be traded,\u201d one national diplomat in Brussels said. There are many possible gifts on the table, including top jobs at other agencies and votes on other EU legislation. Brussels diplomats swap stories of Italy\u2019s deli-style platter of sweeteners for countries willing to back Milan\u2019s EMA candidacy. Whispered offers range from things a country can\u2019t actually guarantee \u2014 like job slots for nationals at the drugs regulator \u2014 to those that have nothing to do with the EMA, like deploying more NATO troops to the Baltics. (That region has potential to play kingmaker \u2014 or at least propel a bid into the second round \u2014 because Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania aren\u2019t bidding for either agency, and are eager to boost NATO\u2019s presence there.) Only Amsterdam, Milan, Vienna, Copenhagen and Barcelona would draw more than two-thirds of the current 900 employees. Italian and Dutch officials don\u2019t deny offering gifts in the form of aid to potential supporters, even as they refused to describe specific offers. \u201cOf course there are bilateral negotiations and we also listen to what other countries expect from us on certain issues, notably linked to European affairs,\u201d Italy\u2019s EU Affairs Minister Sandro Gozi told POLITICO. Bos declined to get into specifics, but did say that \u201csome countries have a wish list, others don\u2019t.\u201d Amsterdam and Milan are sweetening the pot, even as both came out on top in various surveys and analyses of the bids conducted by the EMA and distributed by the Commission. According to a September survey of whether EMA staff would likely relocate to the candidate cities, only Amsterdam, Milan, Vienna, Copenhagen and Barcelona would draw more than two-thirds of the current 900 employees \u2014 the minimum needed for a smooth transition, the agency said. (The political crisis in Catalonia this fall destroyed Barcelona\u2019s once-formidable candidacy.) Bratislava\u2019s Eastern empire Slovakia\u2019s capital got the same top marks in an EMA technical analysis of facilities as most of those staff favorites (even besting Vienna). It\u2019s emerged as an unexpected front-runner \u2014 helped by something it lacks. It\u2019s one of just four EMA applications from countries that don\u2019t already have an EU agency \u2014 the final of six criteria agreed by member countries that otherwise emphasized business operations and staff retention. Bratislava already has voting commitments from Hungary and the Czech Republic in a show of Visegrad solidarity. That\u2019s making the other leaders very nervous. \u201cThere are some bids which are very strong on technical grounds. Among these you can find Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Barcelona, Milan,\u201d Italy\u2019s Gozi said. He continued, \u201cAnd then you have an initiative which is basically only based on geopolitical grounds and a very misleading concept of fairness, which is Bratislava.\u201d Slovakia\u2019s permanent representative to the EU Peter Javor\u010dik called the emphasis on evenly distributing agencies to new member states \u201cvery fair.\u201d Member countries agreed to criteria that include geographic spread. Council conclusions have repeatedly called for future agencies to go to those without them, he noted. A general view over the Canary Wharf financial district in London, where the EMA is currently based | Dan Kitwood\/Getty Images \u201cI don\u2019t think that we should get into the kind of negative campaign mode,\u201d Javor\u010dik said in an interview. However, asked about the bargaining, he said, \u201cWe don\u2019t bring these type of \u2026 bilateral or open issues\u201d into the EMA discussion. Javor\u010dik pointedly said Slovakia already d..","og_url":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/fight-its-the-eu-agency-free-for-all\/","og_site_name":"Business News Report","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Business-NewsReport-328225811095934\/","article_published_time":"2017-11-26T18:35:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-11-26T18:35:19+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/EU_agency_voting_procedure-714x758-3.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"infopal11","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@BNReport","twitter_site":"@BNReport","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"infopal11","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/fight-its-the-eu-agency-free-for-all\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/fight-its-the-eu-agency-free-for-all\/"},"author":{"name":"infopal11","@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/19d1c5a2dd7f60584a09de4a7805d68f"},"headline":"Fight! It\u2019s the EU agency free-for-all","datePublished":"2017-11-26T18:35:15+00:00","dateModified":"2017-11-26T18:35:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/fight-its-the-eu-agency-free-for-all\/"},"wordCount":1539,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/fight-its-the-eu-agency-free-for-all\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/EU_agency_voting_procedure-714x758-3.jpg","articleSection":["Health"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/fight-its-the-eu-agency-free-for-all\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/fight-its-the-eu-agency-free-for-all\/","url":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/fight-its-the-eu-agency-free-for-all\/","name":"Fight! It\u2019s the EU agency free-for-all - Business News Report","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/fight-its-the-eu-agency-free-for-all\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/fight-its-the-eu-agency-free-for-all\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/EU_agency_voting_procedure-714x758-3.jpg","datePublished":"2017-11-26T18:35:15+00:00","dateModified":"2017-11-26T18:35:19+00:00","description":"Brussels wanted to keep the race for Brexit\u2019s biggest spoils from turning into a feeding-frenzy for self-interested member countries. It failed. The race to host the European Medicines Agency and the European Banking Authority has turned \u2014 as with so many such high-profile decisions in the EU \u2014 into a political bazaar, where favors, money and jobs are traded. Diplomats don\u2019t want to spoil their sweetheart deals by being too explicit, but proffered gifts range from NATO troops to support for Eurogroup presidency bids. The Council of the EU, on behalf of the 27 remaining member countries, set out to create a transparent process. They drafted the Commission to evaluate bids by using objective criteria. But they left the ultimate decision up to political leaders to avoid appearances of a Brussels-engineered fait accompli. The result: This so-called objective analysis of the merits of each aspirant has been set to the side ahead of Monday\u2019s vote in Brussels to settle on new locations for these agencies. \u201cBy now you do not really have to explain much about your own bid anymore. Everybody knows what\u2019s on the table,\u201d said Wouter Bos, the Netherlands\u2019 special ambassador for the EMA. Talks are now centered on \u201ctrying to get as much certainty as you can about how countries will vote on the 20th.\u201d Primed for betrayal That will be hard to come by. Monday afternoon\u2019s General Affairs Council vote involves three rounds of voting on the 19 bids for the drugs regulator. Up next is the eight-city contest for the banking watchdog. Balloting is secret, with points for countries to give away even after they vote for themselves. The only thing that is certain: Both agencies can\u2019t go to the same country. The process is primed for surprise and betrayal. \u201cThe vote regarding the relocation of the EMA and EBA will be a political one, expressed depending on the general and current interests of each member state,\u201d said Victor Negrescu, Romanian minister-delegate for EU affairs. Earlier this year, the debate was about whether the new host country could provide a smooth transition for the agencies and how EU agencies should be spread fairly across the bloc. The EU27 haggled over technical criteria. Now talks are taking on the tone of the chaotic bazaar that Council President Donald Tusk tried to avoid. \u201cThe more you have the buy-in of your prime minister or the highest political level, the more things are on the table and anything can be traded,\u201d one national diplomat in Brussels said. There are many possible gifts on the table, including top jobs at other agencies and votes on other EU legislation. Brussels diplomats swap stories of Italy\u2019s deli-style platter of sweeteners for countries willing to back Milan\u2019s EMA candidacy. Whispered offers range from things a country can\u2019t actually guarantee \u2014 like job slots for nationals at the drugs regulator \u2014 to those that have nothing to do with the EMA, like deploying more NATO troops to the Baltics. (That region has potential to play kingmaker \u2014 or at least propel a bid into the second round \u2014 because Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania aren\u2019t bidding for either agency, and are eager to boost NATO\u2019s presence there.) Only Amsterdam, Milan, Vienna, Copenhagen and Barcelona would draw more than two-thirds of the current 900 employees. Italian and Dutch officials don\u2019t deny offering gifts in the form of aid to potential supporters, even as they refused to describe specific offers. \u201cOf course there are bilateral negotiations and we also listen to what other countries expect from us on certain issues, notably linked to European affairs,\u201d Italy\u2019s EU Affairs Minister Sandro Gozi told POLITICO. Bos declined to get into specifics, but did say that \u201csome countries have a wish list, others don\u2019t.\u201d Amsterdam and Milan are sweetening the pot, even as both came out on top in various surveys and analyses of the bids conducted by the EMA and distributed by the Commission. According to a September survey of whether EMA staff would likely relocate to the candidate cities, only Amsterdam, Milan, Vienna, Copenhagen and Barcelona would draw more than two-thirds of the current 900 employees \u2014 the minimum needed for a smooth transition, the agency said. (The political crisis in Catalonia this fall destroyed Barcelona\u2019s once-formidable candidacy.) Bratislava\u2019s Eastern empire Slovakia\u2019s capital got the same top marks in an EMA technical analysis of facilities as most of those staff favorites (even besting Vienna). It\u2019s emerged as an unexpected front-runner \u2014 helped by something it lacks. It\u2019s one of just four EMA applications from countries that don\u2019t already have an EU agency \u2014 the final of six criteria agreed by member countries that otherwise emphasized business operations and staff retention. Bratislava already has voting commitments from Hungary and the Czech Republic in a show of Visegrad solidarity. That\u2019s making the other leaders very nervous. \u201cThere are some bids which are very strong on technical grounds. Among these you can find Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Barcelona, Milan,\u201d Italy\u2019s Gozi said. He continued, \u201cAnd then you have an initiative which is basically only based on geopolitical grounds and a very misleading concept of fairness, which is Bratislava.\u201d Slovakia\u2019s permanent representative to the EU Peter Javor\u010dik called the emphasis on evenly distributing agencies to new member states \u201cvery fair.\u201d Member countries agreed to criteria that include geographic spread. Council conclusions have repeatedly called for future agencies to go to those without them, he noted. A general view over the Canary Wharf financial district in London, where the EMA is currently based | Dan Kitwood\/Getty Images \u201cI don\u2019t think that we should get into the kind of negative campaign mode,\u201d Javor\u010dik said in an interview. However, asked about the bargaining, he said, \u201cWe don\u2019t bring these type of \u2026 bilateral or open issues\u201d into the EMA discussion. Javor\u010dik pointedly said Slovakia already d..","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/fight-its-the-eu-agency-free-for-all\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/fight-its-the-eu-agency-free-for-all\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/fight-its-the-eu-agency-free-for-all\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/EU_agency_voting_procedure-714x758-3.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/EU_agency_voting_procedure-714x758-3.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/fight-its-the-eu-agency-free-for-all\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u0627\u0644\u0631\u0626\u064a\u0633\u064a\u0629","item":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Fight! 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