BRIEF—Italy contests decision to relocate EMA in Amsterdam

Italy has launched a desperate last-minute bid to scupper the move of a key agency to Amsterdam in a direct fightback against Brussels bureaucrats after they lost out in a decision made by drawing straws, according to a report by UK newspaper the Daily Express.

Milan missed out on hosting the European Medicines Agency after a vote between bloc members ended in a draw with the Netherlands before EU officials made their final decision by drawing straws.

T he controversial decision made in Brussels last year reportedly cost Italy £1.5billion. 

And now three Italian MEPs Paolo De Castro, Patrizia Toia and Elisabetta Gardini have decided to fightback against the decision, using the Parliament’s power to change any element of ordinary legislation it is sent, according to politics news site Politico.co.uk.

They argue Amsterdam does not even have the necessary requirements to host the EMA within the set deadlines of March 2019.