"We are playing to win, not to participate, and the conditions are in place to do so". This was stated by Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, regarding Milan's candidacy to bring the European Medicines Agency (EMA) from London to the Lombard capital, after Brexit.
"By the end of the month we will present a very competitive dossier - he added -, because Milan and Lombardy are competitive but also because we worked together and found intelligent solutions".
"Competition between countries is increasingly based on excellence" and excellence is "the ability to attract work, investment and business", continued Gentiloni, arguing that "this ability is partly linked to the organization of major events, such as the 'Expo or the Olympic Games, where there is a debate about whether to apply. You win or you lose, experience tells us that if you work well they are extraordinary opportunities for development for the area”.
For Gentiloni, the EMA office in Milan is not only an opportunity for the city and Italy, but "it is also an opportunity for Europe, because the agency's activity will be guaranteed, for synergies with the authority on food safety in Parma – which is an element of advantage for us – and for the quality of life, a fundamental factor for the researchers who have to move and whose opinion will be taken into account”. Gentiloni reiterated that "ours is a competitive candidacy, I trust that the competition is based on quality criteria and not for geopolitical rebalancing".
Milan, however, will face stiff competition as for the EMA Bonn also applied.
