European leaders are set to battle it out over EU agencies located in London and where they will be located post-Brexit.
The European Medicines Agency and the European Banking Authority, which are currently located in Canary Wharf, will most likely have new homes after Britain has left the bloc.
“Despite the high political dimension, we are committed to ensuring a successful outcome and hence the unity among the EU 27 remains our priority,” said Helena Dalli, who chaired the meeting of EU ministers on the issue.
A summit on Thursday with leaders of the 27 member bloc will decide a new home for the EU agencies.
It will not be an easy decision, and states will try their hardest to hot the agencies which are not only prestigious but will also provide a reliable boost to the local economy. 36,000 scientists and regulators visit the medicines agency every year.
“This is a difficult discussion because, for the first time since the Brexit decision, this theme is actually dividing the 27 whereas so far our strength in facing Brexit has been in our unity,” one senior EU diplomat said.
“The EU has a very bad track when it comes to decisions on locations on agencies,” the source continued.
But the source was “almost 100% convinced” the decision would be taken on Thursday.
“We simply cannot afford not to take this decision. We have to prove as EU27 we can be efficient.”
Copenhagen, Dublin, Barcelona and Milan have all started their campaigns to host the EMA, which has an annual budget of $360 million.
Vienna, Lyon, Strasbourg, Amsterdam and Paris are just some of the cities that want the EBA, whose London employees write and coordinate banking rules across the EU.
A final decision is expected to be announced around October after the states cast their votes, first on the medical, then on banking authority.
A number of companies, including Deutsche Bank (ETR:DBK), have also expressed interest in moving jobs out of the UK after Brexit.