relocation

Urgent Spanish government measure to facilitate decision by firms to relocate HQs causes “concern” in Catalonia

Barcelona is one of the cities which has presented a proposal to host the European Medicines Agency, which will have to relocate from London due to Brexit. Moreover, it is the preferred option of its nearly 900 employees, who say they will be happy to relocate here. “This makes our candidature the only one which could guarantee that the essence of the EMA will remain the same, since its employees and therefore the talent will maintain,” explained Catalan Minister for Health, Toni Comín. He was one of the main speakers this Tuesday in London at the presentation of Barcelona’s candidacy to host the EMA. He was accompanied by Spanish Minister for Health, Dolors Montserrat and Barcelona’s deputy mayor, Jaume Collboni, who emphasized that the three levels of administration are “working together” to bring the EMA to the Catalan capital.

The Catalan Government and Barcelona’s City Hall will join efforts to house those companies which want to leave the UK due to Brexit. “We will specifically address entrepreneurs, start-ups and ICT companies”, explained Catalan Ministry for Business and Knowledge Jordi Baiget.“We to want tell British entrepreneurs and multinational companies that Barcelona and Catalonia are a great destination”, added Barcelona’s deputy Mayor, Jaume Collboni. More than 2,000 Catalan companies regularly export to the UK and 22.4% of Spanish exports to the state are from Catalonia. Regarding imports, the Barcelona area received 2.2 billion euros from UK-based companies in 2015, 5.8% more than the previous year. In June the Catalan Government also offered to host the headquarters of the European Medicines Agency, which is currently in London.