The European Medicine Agency is the EU’s decentralised agency which is primarily responsible for evaluating the safety of medical products within the European single market. The agency, which is currently located in London’s Canary Wharf is seeking to relocate to another European member state. Malta has bid, along with 18 other countries, to host the agency that employs 900 people. Malta’s bid to attract the European Medicine Agency has already entered into details that address a number of employee concerns.
A detailed way-forward
The Maltese government is currently addressing a number of pertinent issues which will need to be answered before Malta can be considered as a good relocation destination for the European Medical Agency.
The Maltese Government proposed to erect a building on 30,000 square metres of land at Smart City by April 2019 in order to host the European Medicine Agency. The development would complement the change in the master plan which will see Smart City evolve from an ICT and Media project to a fully-fledged real estate project.
One of the main concerns of guests and employees is the time need to reach Smart City from the Malta International Airport. To address this issue, the government proposed the setting up of specific clearance desks at the airport, as well as a direct shuttle service between the airport and Smart City.
If Malta were to be chosen, 900 employees would need to relocate to Malta with their families. It is estimated that the employees will relocate together with an additional 450 people who are their partners and that have around 600 children who are still school-aged. In order to assist the employees and their families, the government proposed the setting up of an office that would grant individualised help to relocate them and make the transition as smooth as possible.
