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OSSERVATORIO INTERNAZIONALE

The Brexit case, still being debated and not yet concluded, has determined more than one conse-
quence. The one analysed in this paper concern the relocation of the European Medicines Agency’s
(EMA) seat, which has been moved from London to Amsterdam, following the withdrawal procedure by
the United Kingdom pursuant to Article 50 par. 2 of the TEU. The debate is releted to the transfer’s pro-
cedure approved by the Heads of State or Government of the Union on 22 June 2017 and the subsequent
decision adopted at the margins of the Council of the European Union in “General affairs” formation . It’s
needfull to underline, that the choice of the seat of an agency within the European Union it has always been
the subject of political negotiations which are difficult to set within the framework of legally regulated proce-
dures. To that end provision, a procedure has been laid down, that included an offer to host the agency by the
Member States, wich was voted on while three successive part-sessions. If, as happened, two or more candidates
had equal vote, a draw would have taken place.
From a jurisdictional point of view, the actions had been start by the Municipality of Milan and the
Government of the Italian Republic against the above-mentioned decision, because the draw had excluded Milan,
which, according to the applicants, had best actual and current conditions to host the agency. The focal point of
the appeals is the misuse of powers by the Commission for failure to investigate the tenders submitions.
Awaiting the decision of the EU’s Court of justice about that point, this paper analyzed intere-
sting questions, which includes the question about the legal nature of the decision and whether the measure
may be the subject of an appeal under art. 263 TFEU and also the role of the European Parliament
as co-legislator in the ordinary legislative procedure with regard to the decision of European agencies seats.

SOMMARIO: 1. Introduzione - 2. Brevi cenni sulle Agenzie dell’Unione europea - 3. Il caso
EMA: la decisione sul trasferimento della sede - 4. I ricorsi - 5. Conclusione.

1. Introduzione

Dopo oltre quarant’anni dalla loro prima comparsa nel processo decisio-
nale dell’Unione europea, le agenzie sono ancora oggi organismi ibridi, atipici
e non pienamente riconosciuti nel sistema istituzionale .
(1)
La stessa nozione di “agenzia” è controversa e di difficile ricostruzione:
(2)
non è presente nei Trattati, né nel diritto derivato, oltre a non esser considerata
istituzione dell’Unione ai sensi dell’art. 13, par. 1, del Trattato dell’Unione europea

(1) Così J. ALBERTI, Le Agenzie dell’Unione europea, Giuffrè editore 2018.
(2) «Any autonomous legal entity set up by the legislative authority, in order to help regulate a particular sector
at European level and help implement a Community policy», Commissione UE, in Draft
Interinstitutional agreement on the operating framework for the European regulatory agencies
COM(2005)59 final, 25 febbraio 2005.

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