A senior European diplomat is urging caution in the use of proposed new rules that would regulate the export of the Covid-19 vaccine outside the EU. The rules were announced early Wednesday by the European Commission.
Vaccine shipments will be evaluated on the basis of the country of vaccination and the country of destination of the vaccine export under the strict export control put forward by the Commission.
In a briefing to reporters, the diplomat said the EU and European countries “need to be vigilant with the nuclear option of a pure export ban.” And if not used in the right circumstances, “in the right circumstances, it will react.”
The diplomat explained, “We will say – the pharma superpower, there are a huge number of pharmacological companies on our territory,” whose presence, the GNP calculates some percentage of our employment.
“We are very much aware of the interdependence of these logical chains, and we think that, using the means of blocking exports, it could change very quickly against our own,” the diplomat added, adding that he feared that Will reveal. Measures, breaches of trust, and declining prospects for investment and trade. “
The current export mechanism – which focuses on pharmaceutical companies – has been in operation since the end of January, and every company making the Covid-19 vaccine needs to note its intention to export the dose outside the EU. European countries, in collaboration with the Commission, decide whether to approve or reject shipments.
In the figures released today by the commission, countries made more than 300 applications with millions of vaccines exported to 33 countries. A single shipment of only 250,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from Italy to Australia was blocked.
The diplomat welcomed this “excellent by-product” of the current mechanism. “We clearly understand the need for more transparency. We are behind the commission in this regard,” he added, adding that “now we have a very accurate view on how export flows are regulated.”
Asked why the expanded law is now being brought forward, the diplomat said he thinks “in some European counties it is probably a sign of the panic that is reigning.”
He added that the commission is not deaf to those who live in member states, they cry for help or anger, and it is up to the commission to consider and put proposals on the table.
European leaders will meet on Thursday and Friday to discuss the proposal and the wider coronavirus crisis in Europe. If signed, the expanded export mechanism would be “applicable up to six weeks after its entry,” according to the commission’s draft text.
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