Photographer: Alessia Pierdomenico / Bloomberg
Photographer: Alessia Pierdomenico / Bloomberg
The European Union will review all export applications AstraZeneca Plc vaccines in the UK are “very severe” and will probably reject them until the drug manufacturer fulfills its obligations to deliver to the bloc, a senior EU official said.
Responding to comments from UK Secretary of Defense Ben Wallace on Sunday that the EU must comply with its vaccination contracts, the Brussels official said it was not the EU’s responsibility to help Astra meet its commitments to Britain.
The EU has its own contracts with the company that are not currently being complied with, and any vaccines and ingredients produced in European factories will be reserved for the time being for local deliveries, said the official, who asked not to be named because decisions are under review. and were not made public.
The EU and Britain have been battling vaccine exports since Astra informed Brussels it would not be able to deliver the blocks it had promised the bloc. The turn is becoming more and more toxic, with the two sides blaming each other on export borders and nationalism, and some fear that the sputum could pose a risk to the fragile post-Brexit trade relationship agreed in December last year.
The EU must honor its vaccination contracts even if the slow launch puts pressure on governments there, Wallace told Sky News.
“The Commission is well aware that this would be counterproductive,” he said. “I am under extraordinary political pressure The European Commission. It would damage EU relations globally if it gave up these contracts. ”
The EU official said there were no outstanding applications for UK exports from Astra’s production unit in the Netherlands, but if such a request was made, it would probably be rejected. More than 10 million doses were exported from the EU to the UK, although officials said very few of these shipments were from the Astra vaccine and its ingredients.
“The Netherlands, in principle, allows exports to continue until the European Commission says otherwise,” a Dutch spokesman said on Sunday. “In order to avoid a tipping point where the Commission is indeed taking further action in cooperation with the Member States, it is of the utmost importance that Brussels, London and AstraZeneca reach an agreement on the vaccines produced by the company in the facilities. falling under both contracts. ”
– With the assistance of Suzi Ring