When the European Commission screwed up the rules that will prevent vaccines from disappearing from the union before the EU has had its say, the member states got into trouble. The content of the austerity measures was not known among EU ambassadors before it was announced.
In addition to refusing vaccine exports before the delivery agreements with the EU have been fulfilled, a clause was introduced on “reciprocity” and that the EU can refuse exports to countries that have come much further in the vaccination.
In several places in Europe, there is dissatisfaction with the fact that the roll-out of vaccines is significantly slower than in some countries outside the Union, especially the United States, Israel and the United Kingdom. Opinions are nevertheless very divided on whether a more protectionist set of rules is the way to go. France supports the change, and Italy has said it is important to keep a strict line on the issue of export licenses, writes Financial Times.
Interwoven
Others, on the other hand, are concerned that a sharpening of what is referred to as a vaccine war will only create losers on all sides. Among other things, there is concern that other countries may respond by stopping exports of vaccines or necessary ingredients to the EU.
The Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is among those who are unsure whether strict export rules will be more harmful than beneficial in such a globalized process as vaccine production. Photo: Piroschka Van De Wouw / AP
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– The value chain is so intricate and intertwined that there is no automaticity in the fact that it is good to introduce these new rules, says Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who is one of the skeptics. He points out that a Belgian factory that produces Pfizer and Biontech’s vaccine is dependent on raw materials from the UK.
Johnson & Johnson vaccines produced in Belgium must be exported to the United States for bottling before being re-exported to Europe.
– Further restrictions on exports or vaccination operations in the EU will be detrimental to all patients. We would rather reduce the tension and focus on solutions, wrote director Karita Bekkemellem in the pharmaceutical industry this week in a letter VG has obtained.
Pfizer Norway also fears that regulation of exports creates “an uncertainty we do not need now”.
Different juss
The point of reciprocity seems to have been put in mind with Britain. Many in the EU have been saddened that while they have sent millions of vaccines to the British, they have not received anything in return.
EU President Charles Michel accused Britain of imposing an export ban, which was rejected by London. For their part, they accused the EU of vaccinating nationalism.
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EU President Charles Michel says the goal of the austerity measures put forward by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is more transparency and to ensure that vaccine manufacturers deliver what they have promised. Critics fear it could lead to a vaccine war no one wins. Photo: Aris Oikonomou / AP / NTB
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To explain that the British seem to get vaccines faster, some have pointed out that they were previously out to sign a contract with AstraZeneca, but that lead was only one day. Another explanation is differences in the business law in the UK and on the mainland and that the British secured themselves better in their contracts to be sure that no one else would get vaccines at their expense, writes Politico.
Can hit anyone
The EU’s most precarious challenge is that AstraZeneca has supply problems, but the Commission’s new rules in theory allow other manufacturers, such as Pfizer or Moderna, to be prevented from exporting to countries where many have been vaccinated, even if they have delivered to the EU as agreed.
For Norway, it created a certain amount of uncertainty that we were no longer exempt from export controls, as we were from the start. On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide (H) received assurances that this will not lead to changes for Norway.
– I have today received confirmation from Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that vaccines will go in the usual way from the EU to Norway via Sweden, she wrote to NTB.
– Dependant of each other
Stefan Löfven said after the EU summit on Thursday night that it is important that the new restrictions are not used in a way that makes the production of vaccines more difficult.
– The companies must deliver as agreed, but the question of trade restrictions is not easy when we are so dependent on each other, the Swedish Prime Minister told the news agency TT.
EU President Charles Michel signs Twitter that all 27 member states agree that they will secure the supply lines and keep the economy open, but adds:
At the same time, we want more transparency and ensure that the contracts are fulfilled. That is the aim of the Commission’s proposal.
Unresolved distribution tangle
The summit also showed that even when extra doses appear, EU countries were unable to agree on who should receive them. The distribution of 10 million vaccine doses proved to be an insoluble nut. The idea was to give them to the countries that need them most. The disagreement was about who it was – more specifically whether Austria was one of those countries.
Prime Minister Sebastian Kurz has asked for help because he believes the country has lagged behind. An overview given to the EU ambassadors shows that Austria is not at all among the worst off. Before the weekend, 17.8 percent of the country’s adult population had received at least one dose. What several have pointed out is that if the Austrians think they have received too few doses, it is because they themselves have not used all the opportunities they had to buy vaccines.
To avoid “bazaar haggling”, as Financial Times correspondent Mehreen Khan called it, the task of finding a solution went to the EU countries’ ambassadors in Brussels.
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