The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is not satisfied with the plan of the Amsterdam city authorities to purpose-built an “erotic center”, which should move the famous “red light” street from the city center, not far from their headquarters.
European Medicines Agency officials say they fear the proximity of such a center will create problems of “harassment, drug dealing, drunkenness and violent behaviour.”
Mayor of Amsterdam, FMr. Halsemand, he wants to build a multi-story “erotic center” where the famous street of “red lanterns” from the city center would be relocated.
However, the mayor is faced with strong opposition from the local population who live in the part of the city where legalized prostitution would take place. Now the EMA has joined the criticism, saying that the problems currently plaguing the “red light” district will simply be transferred to any new location.
“The construction of an erotic center in the immediate vicinity of the Agency’s building will probably bring the same negative consequences to this area,” it is stated in the announcement.
The EMA moved its headquarters to Amsterdam’s southern Zuidas district in 2019 after the UK left the EU. Zuidas is one of several locations being considered for an erotic center.
In 2021, Amsterdam officials agreed on plans to relocate the city’s infamous “red light” district precisely because of rising crime and overcrowding in the narrow streets and canal paths of central Amsterdam.
The city authorities commissioned a project for the building, which should contain premises for the provision of sexual services, bars and entertainment centers.
The mayor said she wants to improve the position of sex workers and reduce the influence of organized crime.
“I hope that it is possible to create an erotic center that has some class and distinction and is not a place where only petty criminals and the most vulnerable women gather,” she told the Observer newspaper last November.
She also admitted that she was aware that many Amsterdam residents would not want to live near this erotic center.
Last month, Amsterdam announced rules banning street smoking of cannabis in Amsterdam’s “red light” district, as well as restricting the opening hours of bars and restaurants.
(RTS)