European Banking Authority to be moved to Paris from London

The relocation of these two Agencies is a direct consequence - and the first visible result - of the United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union, as notified to the European Council on 29 March 2017.

The EMA and the EBA are two key regulatory Agencies for the EU's Single Market, and are essential for the authorisation of medicines and for bank regulation. They must continue to function smoothly and without disruption beyond March 2019, the European Commission said in a press release on Monday.

There have been eight offers from member states to host the EBA, and 19 offers to host the EMA. Frankfurt, Dublin and Vienna were considered the front-runners to host the EBA, but Vienna was knocked out by Paris in the second round of the vote and only Paris and the Irish capital were on the shortlist in the third round.

Hungary’s Economy Minister Mihály Varga said at the end of July 2016 that the country would also be a candidate city to host the EBA should it need relocation due to Brexit. Observers believed Frankfurt and Paris were the top applicants, though. In the end, Hungary has not even put in an application.

Szabolcs Takács, state secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office, explained in Brussels late on Monday that Hungary could have submitted a competitive and good application, but it chose not to so that it would help countries in the region that do not yet host any EU agency.

About the EMA

The European Medicines Agency (EMA), a decentralised Agency of the EU, took up its function in 1995. EMA's mission is to evaluate and supervise human and veterinary medicinal products, on grounds of safety, efficacy and quality, in order to protect human and animal health in the EU. EMA does not conduct itself research (no laboratory work, animal tests, or clinical trials), nor does it produce medicines.

EMA's key activities consist in:

• Providing a single route for the evaluation of innovative medicines in the EU, hereby avoiding the duplication of the evaluation in Member States (centralised procedure).
• Monitoring the safety of all medicines authorised in the EU throughout their life cycle.
• Stimulating research and innovation by giving scientific advice and guidance to developers of medicines. Coordinating inspections to verify the compliance with good manufacturing, clinical and laboratory practices.
• Hosting IT services to implement the EU pharmaceutical policy and legislation.

About the EBA

The European Banking Authority (EBA) was established on 1 January 2011 as part of the European System of Financial Supervision and took over all existing responsibilities and tasks of the Committee of European Banking Supervisors.

EBA is a decentralised EU Agency which works to ensure effective and consistent prudential regulation and supervision across the European banking sector. Its overall objectives are to maintain financial stability in the EU and to safeguard the integrity, efficiency and orderly functioning of the banking sector.

The main task of the EBA is to contribute to the creation of the European Single Rulebook in banking whose objective is to provide a single set of harmonised prudential rules for financial institutions throughout the EU. The Authority also plays an important role in promoting convergence of supervisory practices and is mandated to assess risks and vulnerabilities in the EU banking sector.

The Authority also plays an important role in promoting convergence of supervisory practices to ensure a harmonised application of prudential rules.

Finally, the EBA is mandated to assess risks and vulnerabilities in the EU banking sector through, in particular, regular risk assessment reports and pan-European stress tests.

• Tags:
• brexit,
• eba,
• london,
• economy,
• european banking authority,
• paris,
• european medicines agency