MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

EU Banking and Medicine authorities moving out of UK

The Irish government is marketing Dublin, with a brochure that highlights the city's business culture as well as “beaches and mountains on its doorstep”.

An estimated twenty European Union countries are expected to submit bids to provide a new home for two agencies that will be relocated from the UK after Brexit. The European Banking Authority (EBA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA), based in Canary Wharf in London, employ just over 1,000 staff between them.

The banking and medicines agencies are seen as the first spoils of Brexit by the 27 remaining members of the EU.

There will be fierce competition to attract the agencies' highly skilled employees, their families and the business that comes with them. This includes about 40,000 hotel stays for visitors each year.

Countries have printed glossy brochures, posted promotional videos online and hired lobbying firms.

Frankfurt - location of the European Central Bank and a major financial centre - is seen as favorite to get the EBA. But Paris is also keen to win that contest. And the Irish government is marketing Dublin as a location, with a brochure that highlights the city's business culture as well as “beaches and mountains on its doorstep”.

The contest has pitched larger countries against smaller ones from across the EU. Each country can bid to host one or both agencies. But it can only make one bid per agency.

The European Commission will assess the entries based on the quality of office space, job opportunities for spouses, good “European-oriented” schooling and transport links. Accessibility and efficient infrastructure are the top two agreed criteria.

Amid the rivalry to host the EMA, the Netherlands, Ireland and Denmark have hosted events in Brussels to promote their bids The number of states vying for the EMA is reckoned to be 21.

The 27 remaining EU countries are determined that the UK will pay the relocation bill, as Brexit was a UK decision.