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Milan among 19 cities vying to host EMA post-Brexit

Milan is among 19 European cities competing to host the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which will relocate from London after the UK leaves the EU.

Published: 1 August 2017 15:30 CEST

Milan among 19 cities vying to host EMA post-Brexit

Milan is one of 19 cities vying to host the EMA. Photo: Olivier Morin/AFP

The northern Italian business hub is seen as the front-runner among rival bidders which include Barcelona, Bonn, Helsinki, Athens, Amsterdam and Porto.

Meanwhile eight cities, including Paris and Frankfurt, have submitted bids to host the European Banking Authority, which is also due to leave London post-Brexit, the European Council said on Tuesday.

An assessment of the bids will be published by the European Commission on 30th September, with a final decision expected in November.

The Italian government and Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala have been lobbying hard for the city to host the EMA.

On the day after the UK voted to leave the bloc in June last year, Sala said the outcome “could be an opportunity for Milan”.

Read more: Why Milan could be Europe's post-Brexit financial hub

Italy's pharmaceutical industry is the second largest in Europe in terms of production, while the country is the world's number one exporter of medicines per capita.

Runners jog in the Schönbrunn palace gardens in Vienna, Austria (Photo by JOE KLAMAR / AFP)

Runners jog in the Schönbrunn palace gardens in Vienna, Austria (Photo by JOE KLAMAR / AFP)

Dispute in coalition over corona laws

There continues to be a dispute about easing the corona rules and this is dividing Austria’s governing coalition and the federal states, Der Standard newspaper reports.

On Friday, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced that change distance regulations and curfew restrictions. Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein then reminded the Chancellor that the coalition had agreed on a different, joint, approach and had planned first to meet with the leaders of the federal states and experts the following Friday.

Chancellor Kurz then announced the next opening steps for June 17th on Monday. Health Minister Mückstein in turn gave an interview to the ZiB2 programme saying there could be an easing of the mask requirement outside on June 10th. The newspaper reports Green party leader Johannes Rauch believes the debate is being staged by the ÖVP to divert attention from the Chancellor’s impending indictment.

READ MORE: Austrian Chancellor Kurz sees image dented as he faces investigations

Seven day incidence rate at 49

According to the AGES database the seven-day incidence, or the number of new infections with the coronavirus in the past seven days per 100,000 inhabitants, is 49. In all federal states, the number is now well below 100 – with Vorarlberg (75.8) and Burgenland (28.2) having the highest and lowest values, respectively.

Vaccination appointments promised for Upper Austria

Anyone who has registered for a vaccination by noon today in Upper Austria should receive an email by tomorrow to book an appointment, broadcaster ORF reports. So far, almost 540,000 people in Upper Austria have been vaccinated.

Children aged 12 and over will soon be eligible for vaccination

The number of people who can be vaccinated in Austria is likely to increase in the coming days because the European Medicines Agency will soon authorise the Biontech vaccination for children aged 12 to 15, according to Der Standard newspaper. According to the Ministry of Health, around 400,000 young people will soon be eligible.

Kurz criticises behaviour of Belarus

Chancellor Kurz said the behavior of Belarus was “absolutely unacceptable and must be strongly rejected”, after the country sent a fighter jet to force a Ryanair flight travelling between Athens and Vilnius to land, claiming there was a bomb threat. Police then arrested journalist and activist Roman Protasevich along with his girlfriend Sofia Sapega.

Billions lost due to pandemic

Calculations by the think tank Agenda Austria finds there will be a loss of prosperity of around €140 billion euros in Austria up to 2024, according to the Wiener Zeitung newspaper. Once state aid to companies is taken into account, this increases to €175 billion. Even in 2024, domestic economic output will be €20 billion lower than it would have otherwise been.

Domestic customs collected €6.73 in 2020

Domestic customs collected €6.73 billion in 2020 despite travel restrictions, the Wiener Zeitung newspaper reports. In the first quarter of 2021 it was €1.59 billion. It reports the number of customs clearances increased by around a quarter in the first quarter of 2021 as a result of Brexit. Revenue of €3.78 billion was made up of mineral oil taxes in 2020 and around €1.99 billion were collected through tobacco tax.

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