Portuguese politics cripples EU
agency bid
Ahead of an election, Socialist
government looks to mollify independent mayor in Porto by dropping Lisbon as
candidate for EMA.
By PAUL AMES 7/28/17, 6:45 AM CET Updated 7/31/17,
9:50 PM CET
LISBON — The Portuguese government defended its decision to
make a last-minute switch from Lisbon to Porto as its choice as the new host of
the European Medicines Agency.
For months, Lisbon was the country’s nominee to take the
agency, which must leave London after Brexit. But an outcry from the authorities
in Porto led Portugal to make an 11th-hour shift in its proposal: The
government dropped Lisbon barely two weeks ahead of the July 31 application
deadline and announced the northern city would be the country’s candidate
instead.
Until then, Portugal had pushed its capital city hard, with
some success: Lisbon was the preferred choice of EMA staff forced to move out
of London because of Brexit, ahead of rivals such as Copenhagen, Milan and
Bucharest, according to local media reports. Colorful government pamphlets and
brochures boasted that “Lisbon welcomes the EMA.”
Portugal’s health minister vigorously defended the
government’s decision to ditch Lisbon’s candidacy in favor of Porto. Health
Minister Adalberto Campos Fernandes denied claims that the Socialist government
sacrificed Portugal’s best hope of winning the 890-staff agency — and
associated jobs, hotel revenue and related economic boost — to mollify Porto’s
independent mayor Rui Moreira, quell disquiet among Socialist lawmakers from
the north, and win northern votes when the country goes to the polls for
municipal elections on October 1.
“For every one of EMA’s criteria, Lisbon was the best match
… it was a winning bid” — Teresa Leal Coelho, candidate for Lisbon mayor
“The political position has nothing to do with the municipal
elections, and there was no pressure from the mayor of Porto or anybody else,”
Campos Fernandes said. “This was a political decision with a strategic nature …
a cool-headed and rational process.”
Campos Fernandes said the move was intended to boost
decentralization across Europe.
“This is a challenge for Europe,” Campos Fernandes said in
an interview. “Placing an agency as important as EMA in a city like Porto would
have a strategic impact not only for Portugal but for Europe,” he said. “It
would signal that policies are more favorable toward territorial cohesion, to
cohesion among cities, to more balanced and more sustainable development.”
Yet in June, Prime Minister António Costa wrote to Moreira
arguing Lisbon was the best choice due to the proximity of Portugal’s national
medicines agency, INFARMED, and the presence of two existing European agencies
in the capital. Having all three agencies would justify the opening of a
European school in Lisbon, Costa said.
The government also said Lisbon’s air connections and wide
range of hotels made it a natural choice for the relocation. Parliament even
declared Lisbon’s candidacy to be in the “national interest” and on May 11
approved the nomination with a unanimous vote in favor.
Porto politicians were not happy. Moreira demanded a
rethink, adding the battle for the EMA to recent high-profile conflicts with
Lisbon over the hosting of next year’s Eurovision Song Contest and routes of
the national airline TAP that, he claims, neglect his city’s expanding airport.
“This is a centralist argument that we have to combat,” he
told the Porto city council.
The pressure paid off.
According to the new government line, Porto and Lisbon share
many of the factors that make Portugal an attractive destination for the
agency: a balmy climate, safe environment, affordable housing, high quality of
life and existing international schools.
In addition, Campos Fernandes points out the country’s new
EMA host candidate is already home to Portugal’s leading pharmaceutical company
BIAL and Health Cluster Portugal — which groups over 170 entities including
R&D institutions, universities, hospitals and health-related companies.
“Employment prospects for partners [of EMA staff] are also
very important, and this is an area where there are many possibilities, not
only in research and development, and education, but also in industry, linked
to health,” he said.
Moreira was delighted, writing to Costa to applaud a policy
reversal he acclaimed as “an auspicious foretaste of a new way of governing
Portugal” that would overcome the centralism that is “at least partly
responsible for Portugal’s structural backwardness.”
But placating Moreira is a sign that Portugal’s priorities
are out of order, one drug industry representative said.
“Obviously the decision to change from Lisbon to Porto could
be construed as a decision made with a domestic agenda in mind,” said Brian
Cleary, chief marketing officer at pharma consultancy Acorn Regulatory in
Ireland. “On the surface, this might appear to casual observers as
disorganization, but we must not underestimate the role that politics has to
play in every layer of the EMA decision. This strikes me as a move to assuage
Porto rather than a tactical move. Porto has not suddenly developed a
considerably enhanced infrastructure.”
But Cleary added that he never believed the Portuguese had a
strong chance of winning the agency, so the late-stage shift may not matter in
the long run.
Lisbon politicians are plenty miffed, whatever the agency’s
chances are of ultimately ending up in Portugal.
“For every one of EMA’s criteria, Lisbon was the best match
… it was a winning bid,” bemoaned Teresa Leal Coelho, candidate for Lisbon
mayor from the opposition Social Democratic Party.
“The process wasn’t particularly well handled by the
government,” Lisbon’s Socialist mayor, Fernando Medina, said.
“Porto has good conditions to ensure a seamless transition.
It will be easy” — Health Minister Adalberto Campos Fernandes
Campos Fernandes insists there are several possible
locations for the agency in Porto that would meet requirements for a transition
without any break in the EMA’s work. They include a former bank headquarters in
the center of town and more “integrated campus” options. A university campus to
the north of the city has been mentioned as another possible location for the
EMA.
“We’ve got many options for the location that would meet the
EMA’s main concern for continuity,” the minister said. “Porto has good
conditions to ensure a seamless transition. It will be easy. I’d say that from
one week to another that EMA can carry on its work … without any type of
upset.”
The budget for the bid has not yet been fixed, Campos
Fernandes said, but media reports say €90,000 has been earmarked for
communications.
The minister said the amount already spent promoting the
dropped Lisbon bid — including brochures and a website — was “marginal” and
much of it could be recouped by adapting material for Porto’s candidacy.
Helen Collis contributed reporting from London.
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