All but six European Union states are bidding to host one or both the London-based EU agencies that will be relocated after Brexit, setting up a competition that could easily escalate into a squabble, Reuters reports.

Races for the jobs and prestige associated with hosting EU agencies often become heated, but this diplomatic contest risks weakening the unity of the EU's 27 remaining states in the midst of delicate two-year Brexit talks that started in March.

Nineteen cities have made themselves candidates to host the European Medicines Agency (EMA) while eight are offering to give the European Banking Authority (EBA) a home, the Council of the European Union said on Tuesday, August 1.