Considerations on COM(2017)735 - Amendment of Regulation (EC) No 726/2004 as regards the location of the seat of the European Medicines Agency

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dossier COM(2017)735 - Amendment of Regulation (EC) No 726/2004 as regards the location of the seat of the European Medicines Agency.
document COM(2017)735 EN
date November 14, 2018
 
table>(1)In the context of the United Kingdom’s notification on 29 March 2017 of its intention to withdraw from the Union pursuant to Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (‘TEU’), the other 27 Member States, meeting on 20 November 2017 in the margins of the Council, selected Amsterdam, the Netherlands, as the new seat of the European Medicines Agency (‘the Agency’).
(2)Having regard to Article 50(3) TEU, the Agency should take its new seat as of 30 March 2019.

(3)To ensure the proper functioning of the Agency in its new location, a headquarters agreement should be concluded between the Agency and the Netherlands before the Agency takes up its new seat.

(4)It is to be welcomed that the authorities of the Netherlands are making efforts to ensure the operational effectiveness, continuity and uninterrupted functioning of the Agency during and after the relocation. Nevertheless, given the extraordinary situation, the Agency may have to temporarily focus on its core tasks and prioritise other activities according to their impact on public health and the Agency’s ability to function.

(5)The Commission should monitor the overall relocation process of the Agency to its new seat and assist that process within the limits of its competences.

(6)To give the Agency sufficient time to relocate, this Regulation should enter into force as a matter of urgency.

(7)Regulation (EC) No 726/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) should therefore be amended accordingly,