THEItalian State Attorney's Office appealed to the European Court of Justice against the assignment of the EMA headquarters to Amsterdam, the European Medicines Agency, through a decision essentially taken by the European Council. Sources from Palazzo Chigi make it known.
The appeal, explain the same sources, "seems necessary" following the news that appeared yesterday on the site destined to house the Agency. The appeal will ask the Court to verify whether the decision on Amsterdam is not to be considered vitiated by incomplete information on the headquarters of the Agency. At the same time, the Municipality of Milan has also presented an appeal to the Court of First Instance, which anyone "directly involved" in European decisions can apply to.
Last November Amsterdam has mocked Milan in the race to win the post-Brexit headquarters of theEuropean Medicines Agency, but now it turns out that he will not be able to meet the deadlines. In a joint press conference with the Dutch authorities, the director of the Agency, Guido Rasi, announced that the building in Amsterdam intended for the EMA headquarters it will not be usable in time for the transfer from London and that the transitional solution proposed by the Dutch "is not optimal", because the space available will be half that of the British headquarters. The double move would also have two other negative consequences: it would increase costs and lengthen the time to return to full operation.
So the Italian government is back on the attack, despite knowing that by now the hopes of overturning the Brussels verdict are minimal. In fact, Brussels is holding back: the decision "was taken by the 27 member states and we have nothing to say" in this regard, said European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas, after Italy's decision to appeal.
“I called Gentiloni – said the mayor of Milan, beppe room – and I told him: it's time to be aggressive, let's do it, let's try, to the end. Let's be honest, the chances of a reassignment of the headquarters in Milan are not very high, but we have to try".
