Press play to listen to this article
Welcome to the latest phase of coronavirus in the EU: the pandemic pandemic.
As EU heads of state and government prepare to convene a virtual summit on Thursday, the European Commission has launched plans for a draconian mechanism to reduce vaccine exports. But officials quickly acknowledged that it would do almost nothing, if ever, to address the EU’s main problem: an acute shortage of doses for inoculating people.
In an attempt to reduce tensions between Brussels and London, the EU and Britain issued a vague joint statement on Wednesday night, proclaiming they will work together to increase vaccine stocks. But Prime Minister Boris Johnson continued to threaten retaliation over possible export restrictions, and EU officials were still booing that British vaccine manufacturers were not delivering doses abroad.
The lack of any details in the joint statement only highlighted the lack of good options for political leaders in a situation where demand for vaccines far exceeds existing production capacity.
“We are all facing the same pandemic, and the third wave makes EU-UK cooperation even more important,” the proclamation said. “We discussed what more we can do to ensure a mutually beneficial relationship between the UK and the EU on COVID-19. Given our interdependencies, we are working on specific steps we can take – in the short, medium and long term – to create a win-win situation and to expand the supply of vaccines to all our citizens. “
And only if the citizens were worried that the communication channels were destroyed from the Canal, the statement ended by saying: “We will continue our discussions”.
The contagion of chaos
Meanwhile, EU countries have been convulsed by various controversies over blocking measures or vaccine supply and have been faced with the prospect of a new holiday season – Easter now – with large areas of the economy still closed.
In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel made an astonishing plea for forgiveness from citizens and abruptly backed down plans to close the five-day Easter, which would have closed all stores from April 1 to April 5. “A mistake should only be called that.” Merkel said, accepting full responsibility. But at the same time, she reiterated that Germany is facing a third wave of infections.
In Belgium, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo announced a “Easter break” imposing stricter isolation measures, including the closure of schools and companies that provide close contact services, such as hairdressers and nail salons.
In Italy, too, the consequences continued during a weekend raid by a military police force, which appears to be acting on the orders of the EU’s vaccine production representative, Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton. The plant is owned by Catalent, a subcontractor that provides completion and finishing work for AstraZeneca, the vaccine manufacturer that has angered the Commission over production deficiencies of tens of millions of doses.
Breton it seems that some of the factory’s productions have not been added. Police found 29 million doses awaiting shipment to Belgium. AstraZeneca issued a statement describing the situation as routine, but the large amount seemed to play into the concerns raised by the EU in recent days that companies could “deposit” doses.
The company denied the allegations of storage, saying that out of stock, 13 million doses were destined for the COVAX basin for developing countries, and the rest were destined for Europe.
In general, the incident has just added to the growing sense of chaos and the deepening of the crisis.
Politicians and public health officials had long warned that things would get worse this spring before they could improve. But in a way, leaders seemed to have ignored – or forgotten – their own directions as they typed their messages, fumbled for policy decisions, and generally left citizens with the feeling that things were getting out of hand.
In his invitation letter to the summit sent to heads of state and government on Tuesday, European Council President Charles Michel emphasized the centrality of the vaccine issue at the leaders’ meeting.
“As far as COVID is concerned, our main priority is to speed up vaccination campaigns across the EU,” he wrote. “To this end, the ongoing activity of increasing vaccine production, increasing vaccine deliveries and ensuring greater transparency and predictability of supply should be intensified.”
Export restrictions
Under massive pressure to meet those expectations, the Commission on Wednesday unveiled the extended export control scheme, which it said should help contribute to more vaccines. “While our Member States are facing a third wave of pandemics and not every company is fulfilling its contract,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday. “We need to ensure that the vaccine is delivered to EU citizens in a timely and sufficient manner. Every day counts.”
But more dubious trade officials below it said the mechanism would not allow the EU to requisition vaccines. Indeed, two officials said it was a measure the EU would prefer never to use.
On paper, the new measures would allow the Commission to now block vaccine exports to countries with higher vaccination rates and not reciprocate EU exports. “These are necessary to achieve our goal of ensuring timely access to COVID-19 vaccines for EU citizens,” said Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis.
But Dombrovskis acknowledged that the scheme could not force companies to administer these blocked vaccines to EU countries. “It’s an export authorization system, it doesn’t prescribe what companies should do with the doses in question,” he said.
In a briefing to reporters, a senior EU official said: “We cannot take advantage, either at European or Member State level, of any of these doses that have not been granted for export … What former [blocked] … of course, it remains the property of the company and then the company has to see what to do with it. “
A trade diplomat said this means that a vaccine manufacturer could simply export these blocked doses to another country that does not meet the criteria for restrictions.
But another senior EU official said the Commission hopes that by threatening to block exports, it will push companies to frontally load vaccine deliveries to EU countries and delay some of their deliveries to countries with higher vaccination rates.
As officials acknowledged that they had few options, Germany urged the Commission to buy doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, which is not yet approved for use in the EU. Some officials, including von der Leyen, have previously raised public doubts about the vaccine, wondering why Russia is seeking to deliver much of it abroad, even though many of its citizens do not appear to be vaccinated.
Biden enters
A third senior EU official said it would be difficult for heads of state and government to discuss the Commission’s proposal at Thursday’s summit, as it was unveiled just a day before the meeting. But it seemed impossible for national leaders not to seize the opportunity to discuss any and all ways to alleviate the vaccine shortage.
Despite growing political pressure at home, leaders are divided over the proposed export restrictions. France, Germany and Italy seemed to strongly support at least the threat of tougher export measures. But Belgium, Denmark, Sweden and other countries have been reluctant to worsen, citing possible threats of retaliation and supply chain disruptions, diplomats said on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, there was also an ongoing discussion among EU diplomats about invoking an emergency provision of the EU treaties, known as Article 122, that could allow for the confiscation of vaccine doses or other urgent measures. Such a move could have serious legal repercussions, and diplomats said it was unclear if it was viable.
But given the public frustration, some leaders are clearly eager to be more proactive. In an opinion published by POLITICO, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, for example, called on the EU to use all legal instruments to increase production, including a “compulsory licensing” mechanism which he said would allow the EU to put in place effectively enforce patents rights and enroll other manufacturers.
EU countries have also been divided on another proposal – to create a digital vaccine certificate that could help revive travel. The Commission has worked hard to develop the concept, and proponents of the idea have insisted that it has general support between capitals. But some countries are resilient because of concerns about data privacy and the need to develop more reliable technology to serve as an interoperable platform.
Amid concerns over the supply of vaccines, leaders will welcome a star guest. US President Joe Biden will join the European Council video conference at Michel’s invitation on Thursday evening, but it was unclear whether Michel intended to plead directly with the US president to ease any obstacles to US vaccine deliveries.
Biden will be a more welcome show than his White House predecessor, Donald Trump, but he seemed unlikely to offer to take them out of the vaccine supply hole. This week, Poland, rather than the United States, said it would provide vaccines for all NATO headquarters.
Jacopo Barigazzi, Maïa de La Baume, Anna Isaac and Hans von der Burchard contributed to the reporting.
You want more analysis from political? political Pro is our premium information service for professionals. From financial services to commerce, technology, cybersecurity and more, Pro gives you real-time information, an in-depth perspective and cutting-edge packages you need to stay one step ahead. E-mail [email protected] to request a free trial.