EMA Management Board: highlights of December 2019 meeting

The  December meeting of EMA’s Management Board was hosted by the Dutch government as the Agency’s interim building is now closed to prepare for the move to the new European Medicines Agency (EMA) building in Amsterdam Zuidas in January 2020.

The move to the final building opens a new chapter for the EMA and will allow the Agency to fully refocus on its mission of protecting public and animal health. However, executive director Guido Rasi stressed the challenges that the Agency now faces in reinitiating its activities following three years of relocation and Brexit preparedness planning and postponed investment into business-critical infrastructure.

In the meantime, important new demands have been placed on the Agency that will need to be prioritized, such as the implementation of the  new legislation for veterinary medicines and the  new legislation on medical devices. At the same time, the Agency now has an available workforce of 775 which is significantly less compared to end 2017 when the EMA’s relocation plans took shape.