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Brussels plans to expand the EU’s ability to stop exports of coronavirus vaccines in supply disputes, such as its escalating battle with the UK and AstraZeneca.
The European Commission’s proposals, seen by FT, would broaden the basis for stopping shipments to countries that import from the EU but refuse to export their own vaccine production.
The plans target countries that restrict exports of vaccines to the EU, “either by law or by any other means.” The bill also targets states that block the EU’s access to “the raw materials” from which vaccines are made.
Such practices, the bill says, could “pose a threat to the security of supply” of vaccines within the EU.
The text also asks EU governments to take into account whether a country is ahead of the EU in its vaccination rollout before allowing further shipments of injections there.
The plans, to be unveiled on Wednesday, are aimed at strengthening the European bloc’s ability to alleviate the reduced vaccine supply it has suffered at home, while exporting tens of millions of doses to the rest of the world.
The measures could increase pressure on the UK in its AstraZeneca supply dispute with the bloc, as the new proposals could, in principle, allow the EU to halt shipments of BioNTech / Pfizer and Moderna vaccines made in the bloc to Britain.
EU officials stressed that the proposed export measures were crafted to give the bloc maximum flexibility to deal with existing problems and future disputes with vaccine manufacturers or other nations. As part of the rules, the list of countries that are exempt from the export regime will be shortened.
“It is not company specific and it is not country specific,” said one official. “We are the pharmacy in the world right now. If that continues, it is really important that Europeans get their fair share of vaccines. “
The decision to inject what the commission calls “reciprocity and proportionality” into the vaccine trade reflects a hardening of mood in member state capitals, as the EU’s immunization campaign lags behind that of the Kingdom. United and the US
EU leaders will debate the commission’s proposals at a video summit this week that will focus on efforts to accelerate the bloc’s response to the pandemic, as some countries are hit by a third wave.
The Brussels plan builds on a Covid-19 export control regime launched in January to give member states and the commission powers to block vaccine exports from companies that have not met their supply commitments to the EU. . Italy used the controls to stop the export of 250,000 doses of the drug Oxford / AstraZeneca to Australia in early March.
The expanded export controls could also be used to block exports to countries with higher vaccination rates than the EU or where countries were using supplies from the European bloc to serve “vaccine tourists” flying in to receive the vaccine, they said. The authorities. The measures would remain discretionary without automatic bans on any shipments, they emphasized.
Maros Sefcovic, the vice chairman of the commission that oversees relations with the UK, said at a press conference on Tuesday that EU partners should understand that the bloc wanted to have its “fair share” of vaccines manufactured on its territory.
While 70 million doses of vaccine have been delivered within the EU, 41.5 million have been exported to 33 countries, he said, adding that the bloc was inviting its partners to be as “communicative, transparent and open as we are. “.
The move will be seen as a particular hit to London, which has not shipped any AstraZeneca vaccines to the EU even as the bloc exported more than 10 million doses of rival hits, mainly from Pfizer, to Britain in the past two months.
“The current export mechanism has shown everyone that we are the world’s leading exporter of vaccines. It has also become clear that Europe stands alone in this partnership approach, ”said Manfred Weber, head of the powerful European People’s Party group in the European Parliament.
“We should therefore now take the next step, tighten our restrictions and limit exports to other vaccine-producing countries that have refused to deliver vaccines to Europe.”
He warned that if the UK continued to reject an “open markets” approach for vaccines, the EU should go further by introducing a “blanket export restriction” for all vaccines produced in the EU.
In response to questions about the proposed measures, a spokesman for Boris Johnson, the UK’s prime minister, said Britain expected the EU to “maintain its commitment not to restrict exports from companies that are meeting their obligations.”
Johnson earlier Tuesday told a Downing Street news conference that vaccine production was an “international operation, produced by collaboration between international scientists.”
“In this country we do not believe in blockages of any type of vaccines or vaccine material,” he said. “That is something this country will not dream of participating in.”
