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The measure could restrict the export of vaccines to countries like the United Kingdom, which produces some of its vaccines but does not send them to the EU.
“So today we have adopted two changes to the existing mechanism,” said Valdis Dombrovskis, Vice President of the European Commission.
According to officials, this means that the European Commission will now assess the needs of these countries in terms of morbidity and the number of vaccines available, as well as their willingness to send vaccines and vaccine components to the European Union.
The new system is not an export ban
“Open roads should lead in both directions,” said EC President Ursula von der Leyen.
“That is why the European Commission will now apply the principles of reciprocity and proportionality to the existing EU authorization mechanism,” he said, referring to the rule introduced in February.
“We have dealt with more than enough doses for the entire population. However, we must ensure that vaccines are delivered to EU citizens in a timely and proper manner, said the president of the European Commission. “Every day counts.”
The Community is particularly outraged at the UK, which has received around € 10 million. doses of vaccines from EU factories and they did not send anything to the bloc. The EU now demands reciprocity, with Britain running its vaccination campaign quickly and vaccination on the slow bloc.
EU officials emphasized that the new system was not a “vaccine export ban” and was not directed against any particular country, although they recalled that AstraZeneca, a UK-based company, had not fulfilled all its obligations to supply medicines to Europe.
AstraZeneca did not deliver the 30 million from afar. Vaccine doses were promised to be delivered in the first three months of this year, although a total of € 120 million was initially agreed. dose delivery, noted V. Dombrovskis.
Last week, von der Leyen warned that the EU could take action against third countries.
According to her, the EU has approved about 41 million in the last six weeks. doses of vaccine for export to 33 countries and is considered at the forefront of international vaccine exchange efforts.
So far, one in every 250,000 doses of AstraZeneca has been blocked. a dose shipment sent from Italy to Australia.
So far, this has been the only case in which the ban has been applied; A further 380 export authorization applications were approved, including 11 million applications for Great Britain. vaccine dose.
London sees danger
However, Britain believes that the strict export licensing system is jeopardizing its vaccination program, the fluidity of which is ensured by the regular delivery of batches of AstraZeneca products.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is working to ease tensions and has spoken by phone in recent days with European leaders, including von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron.
“We are all fighting the same pandemic across the European continent,” Johnson said at a news conference Tuesday night. “Vaccines are an international operation.”
He said the UK “will continue to work with partners in Europe in the supply of vaccines.”
“We do not believe in any vaccine or vaccine substance blockage in this country,” he said.
Under the revised mechanism, a company operating a vaccine plant in an EU country must apply for an export permit. It will be up to the EU country and the EC to decide whether to issue an export permit.
The EU will not seize any blocked parts and “the company will, of course, have to comment on its own intentions” on such a shipment, Dombrovskis said.
However, the additional inspection will deliberately put pressure on companies before applying for an export authorization to take into account European needs in relation to the situation in the destination country.
“Some countries have already secured many vaccines, they already have many much faster vaccination rates,” said an EU official.
“Fair share”
According to officials, the European Union, the giant of vaccine production, is distinguished by allowing the export of these products, while other countries, in addition to those with large production capacity, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, limit the doses to their populations. through legislation or commercial agreements.
The Community tried to find a balance between this “openness” and the need to vaccinate the majority of the 450 million people. population.
“Yes [blokui nepriklausančioje šalyje] vaccination rate and so close to 100%, who should vaccines be sent to there if, for example, they are lacking in other parts of the European Union? ”Said the EU official.
According to him, the strengthened export assessment mechanism “will help us assess the overall situation and ensure that Europe gets its fair share”.
According to officials, EU leaders will undoubtedly support the stricter measures at a virtual summit starting Thursday, and the new system is in line with World Trade Organization rules.
Brussels announced Tuesday that it would tighten controls on exports of COVID-19 vaccines from the European Union, and a senior bloc official warned that the bloc was “taking action” on the supply of AstraZeneca.
The European Commission on Wednesday adopted a “revised export transparency and authorization mechanism,” a spokesman told reporters.
The issue will also be discussed during a virtual meeting of EU leaders on Thursday and Friday.
According to officials, the revised mechanism will not mean a total export ban, but will support what European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called “reciprocity.”
It will strengthen the Commission’s position on the ban on exports to countries where vaccination is more successful and which produce vaccines but do not export them to the EU.
The Commission said last week that it was prepared to impose stricter conditions on exports of vaccines from Europe. The move targeted AstraZeneca in the UK.
Sandra Gallina, head of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Health and Food Safety, told the European Parliament that the EU had a “serious problem” with AstraZeneca.
According to her, this English and Swedish company delivered less than a quarter of the more than 100 million in the first three months of this year. promised doses of vaccines.
“With regard to AstraZeneca, I would like to point out that we are taking action,” Gallina said, adding that the company had earned a “bad reputation” by not allowing Europe to accelerate its vaccination campaign.
Mr. von der Leyen threatened to ban the export of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, sparking a dispute between Brussels and London and mutual accusations of “vaccine nationalism”.
The EU is angry that AstraZeneca has ensured a smooth supply to Britain until this month and is not complying with the agreement with the Community.
Britain is already low on doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine due to delays in scheduled shipments from a major plant in India.
London wants doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from a plant that will soon be licensed in the Netherlands.
EU countries do not agree
Under the EU export control mechanism established in late January, vaccine manufacturers must apply for permission to ship vaccine shipments from the unit.
So far, a shipment of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from Italy to Australia has been blocked.
EU member states disagree on whether to toughen the export ban.
Some take this as a way of urging pharmaceutical companies to respect supply schedules to Europe, pointing out that between early February and mid-March, the EU exported more than 10 million euros to Britain. doses of vaccine and did not receive any doses from the UK.
Other countries fear that an export ban will provoke retaliation that disrupts international vaccine supply chains. Some of them provide the necessary ingredients.
Among the wary are the Netherlands. A country official said an EU export ban would lose everyone, but the Dutch would comply with the EC’s decision.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday expressed support for the threat by EC President von der Leyen to block the export of AstraZeneca vaccine doses manufactured in the Community.
According to her, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, having spoken with her in recent days with French President Emmanuel Macron and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, is “in constant contact” with the EC on the issue.
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