Brexit Puts EMA Up Against It in Forced Relocation

The European Medicines Authority said it will be squeezed by a very tight schedule for relocating its headquarters from London once a new site is selected Nov. 20.

The move is forced by the UK’s 2016 vote to leave the EU, under whose auspices the EMA operates. The Brexit is set for the end of March 2019.

If a so-called hard Brexit occurs then, with no transition period, the agency said it will be sorely pressed to get a new headquarters building ready for occupancy. Plans for the building will require approval by local authorities, EMA’s management board and the EU budgetary authority, a process that typically takes six to eight months, and renovations will take another 12 to 15 months, the EMA said.  That means the agency and the new host country will need to look at ways to speed up the transition.