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The heads of state and government of the EU countries discussed Vaccine distribution. Details must now be provided by the EU Ambassadors be clarified. A solution must be found on the basis of the participation of the population of EU countries and the speed of delivery in the distribution of an additional ten million doses of Biontech and Pfizer, he said in council circles on Thursday.
Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) emphasized before the start of the virtual EU summit on Thursday that The main theme of the heads of state and government will be the fight against pandemics. “If the distribution of vaccines is not going to be a topic for a summit, then what?” Declared the chancellor. It is also completely incomprehensible that the EU exports 70 million doses of corona vaccines to all parts of the world, but does not receive any vaccines from outside the EU.
“That’s a huge disparity,” Kurz said. Therefore, he supported the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in her aim to counter this and defend export controls. At the summit itself, however, after heated discussions, there was a compromise proposal on vaccine distribution, which was also incorporated into the conclusions: Now EU ambassadors should resolve the conflict and not the steering committee, whose co-chair Clemens Martin Auer had to step down for the cause. EU ambassadors are bound by instructions to their capitals and must decide unanimously.
In the fight against the pandemic, the motto “whatever you want” should be applied, Kurz emphasized. The argument that there is a financial restriction of 200 million euros for the purchase of vaccines in Austria is therefore “absurd”. So far, 80 million euros have been spent and 30 million cans have been ordered, the problem lies in the delay in deliveries, Kurz said.
77 million cans exported from the EU
EU Council President Charles Michel wanted to avoid a dispute over the redistribution of corona vaccines in the EU at the EU summit, which was convened by Austria and other countries. Therefore, a group of experts tried to resolve the dispute on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, apparently to no avail.
Of the nearly 450 million EU citizens, 62 million have been vaccinated against Corona at least once. 18.2 million people also received their second dose. The figures were presented by the head of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on Thursday at the EU summit. EU countries have received around 88 million doses of vaccines from pharmaceutical companies. At the same time, 77 million cans have been exported from the EU since 1 December.
Dense agenda at the summit
The regular EU spring summit has a busy schedule today and tomorrow. However, much more than individual talking points, it is about determining the position and question of common perspectives. Council President Charles Michel reportedly wants to avoid a small dispute (over individual vaccine deliveries) at the highest-ranking meeting. But there are many points to clarify.
The EU vaccination campaign against coronavirus is slowly gaining momentum. At today’s video summit, the EU heads of state and government are again discussing ways to accelerate this. However, the wishes of the 27 Member States do not always go in the same direction. An overview:
Exportkontrollen
Due to significant delivery delays, the EU has been in contact with British-Swedish manufacturer AstraZeneca since January. In the episode he wrote Brussels stipulate that manufacturers must obtain authorization to export. Since then, only one in hundreds of deliveries has not been allowed. However, it is now clear that a large part of the corona vaccines produced in the EU are exported. The biggest customer is Great Britain. But almost nothing comes back from there.
Therefore, on Wednesday, the commission decided to significantly tighten export controls. Export bans are now also possible if the destination country produces the vaccine itself but does not export it, and if the vaccination rate is higher than the EU, both apply to Great Britain. However, countries like Germany warn of export bans, as this could lead to retaliatory actions in international supply chains of vaccine precursors..
Redistribution of vaccination doses in the EU
As of mid-March, Austria and five other EU countries had a “Correction mechanism” sued because they are disadvantaged when administering vaccines. In addition to Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Croatia and Latvia also complained. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen then suggested using 10 million doses of the Biontech / Pfizer vaccine, which will now be delivered early in the second quarter, as compensation.
However, so far, the member states have not reached any agreement. Germany suggested using just three of the ten million cans to better rank the five countries except Austria. It is said in EU circles that it justifies that Vienna is not doing so badly compared to other countries when it comes to allocation. But Kurz sees himself ripped off and now wants to make the question the topic of the summit.
Sputnik V
So far, the EU has ordered 2.6 billion doses of vaccines from six manufacturers. Germany now requires that the Russian Sputnik V vaccine be ordered through the EU. Berlin called on the EU Commission on Wednesday to start talks on this “without delay”. The background for this is the recent observation by EU Commissioner Thierry Breton, who comes from France, that the Sputnik vaccine is not necessary.
Sputnik V is not yet approved in the EU. However, the EU Medicines Agency (EMA) has started the so-called continuous approval procedure. Berlin notes, however, that the contracts for the other vaccines were also concluded prior to approval.
Based on national procedures, at least Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Italy are already using the Russian vaccine or want to use it. Austria also had several contacts with Russia regarding a possible delivery of the Russian crown vaccine and possible production in Austria. Federal Chancellor Kurz always emphasized that EU approval was required for deliveries to Austria.
EU uniform vaccination certificate
Greece, Austria and other countries that rely heavily on tourism want to save the summer season with a vaccination pass based on the Israeli model. Other EU countries like Belgium, France or Germany are skeptical about a vaccination certificate as a prerequisite for travel, because so far only a few people in Europe have been vaccinated and this could result in privileges for those who have been vaccinated.
The commission attempted the balancing act last week and made a proposal for a “digital green vaccination certificate.” It should facilitate travel without restricting the freedom of movement of people who have not been vaccinated, and it should also contain test results and information on survival from corona disease. For travelers, testing or quarantine requirements could be waived. The dispute over the rights associated with the ID card continues to rage. The digital document should not be ready until June.
Foreign policy
Tonight, US President Joe Biden will join the video conference, while US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is currently in Brussels. – more signs of easing of tension between the continents under Donald Trump.
The question of Turkey and the future of Europe (such as advances in digitization) are on tomorrow’s agenda.
