The European Medicines Regulatory Authority, the EMA, is concerned that after having to move its headquarters from London to Amsterdam after Brexit, it may now find itself with an uncomfortable neighbor: the Dutch city’s new “red light district” to be built the mayor’s office, BBC and News.ro report.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) says it fears “disorder, drug dealing, drunkenness and abnormal behaviour”.

Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema wants to build a high-rise “Erotic Center” in place of the city’s famous red light district, despite strong local opposition to the new center, which will house legalized prostitution. Now the EMA has joined the critics, saying that the problems currently plaguing the famous red light district will simply be transferred to any new location.

“The location of an erotic center in the immediate vicinity of the EMA headquarters is likely to cause the same negative consequences for the surrounding area,” the EMA said in a statement.

The European agency moved its headquarters to the Zuidas district in the south of Amsterdam in 2019, following the UK’s exit from the EU. Zuidas is one of the few sites considered to be the site of a new erotic hub.’

In 2021, Amsterdam authorities agreed to relocate the city’s famous red light district due to rising crime and overcrowding in the narrow canal-side streets and alleys. They asked architects to design a building that would include facilities for sexual services, as well as bars and entertainment centers.

Mayor Femke Halsema said she wants to improve the situation of sex workers and reduce the influence of organized crime. “I hope that it is possible to create an erotic center that will have a certain class and differences, and not a place where only petty criminals and the most vulnerable women gather,” she told “Obzrevatel” last November. However, the mayor admitted that she realizes that many residents will not want the new erotic center to stand next to them.

Last month, Amsterdam announced new rules banning the smoking of marijuana on the streets of Amsterdam’s red light district and restricting the opening hours of bars and restaurants.