EU vaccination rules can disrupt global supply, including allies

Photographer: Remko de Waal / AFP / Getty Images

The European Union’s closest neighbors, including Balkan countries and those with special trade relations with the bloc such as Norway and Switzerland, will need authorization to import Covid vaccines from the EU according to a proposal to be presented on Wednesday.

The plan, which will be made public in Brussels around noon, aims to strengthen existing rules on EU exports by insisting that nations receiving EU doses also return their doses. It will also take into account the vaccination rate and the pandemic situation in a country when deciding whether to make green light shipments. The mechanism will not be automatic, but will be used on a case-by-case basis, according to officials familiar with the proposal.

The new export rules come as the health outlook has worsened dramatically in Europe as many of the major countries, including Germany and France, announce new blockades. When EU leaders meet later this week to discuss the proposal, they will say that the “situation remains serious” and that “restrictions, including non-essential travel, must therefore be maintained”. , according to an EU document seen by Bloomberg.

Neighboring countries will be included in the new directive because of the increased risk of third parties using their special trade privileges to help circumvent stricter export criteria, according to a draft regulation seen by Bloomberg. The rules will include the countries of the European Free Trade Association, as well as those of the European Economic Area, according to two people familiar with the plan.

According to the document, countries at risk of complying with the new rules will be those that restrict their “own exports of vaccines or their raw materials, either by law or by other means.” This could have consequences for the UK which, having received 11 million of the 45 million doses shipped outside the EU, is by far the main recipient of the block’s vaccines.

In addition, the rules will examine “the conditions prevailing in the destination country” and will consider “the epidemiological situation, its vaccination rate and vaccine reserves,” according to the document.

The block has administered 13 doses per 100 people, less than a third of what the UK has managed, according to Bloomberg’s coronavirus vaccine tracker. Israel has inoculated more than half of its population.

According to an official familiar with the proposal, the plan is aimed at companies like Astra that are not meeting their commitments and also at possible future difficulties with companies like Pfizer Inc. that they fulfill their obligations. identify yourself because the plans are private. The rules will not be an automatic ban and are intended to increase transparency and fairness, the official said.

Another diplomat said the EU wanted to tackle “vaccine tourism”, so Europeans are encouraged to spend their holidays in countries with a surplus of vaccines just to receive imported doses of the block.

“Greed” vaccine

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, told reporters in London that all countries are “fighting the same pandemic” and that his government “will continue to work with our European partners”. Later in the evening, however, he risked igniting tensions and told a group of Conservative MPs in a private meeting via Zoom that the success of the UK vaccine was due to “greed “.

The government tried to limit the damage, and Cabinet Minister Priti Patel took the rare step of using television interviews to try to explain the prime minister’s statements. British officials do not usually make public comments about private discussions, such as the meeting Johnson held with his party.

Meanwhile, the Canadian government called the EU’s proposals “worrying”. And in Australia, Health Minister Greg Hunt said Wednesday that his nation had received less than a fifth of the 3.8 million doses it contracted from European AstraZeneca operations. Earlier this month, Italy blocked shipments of vaccines to Australia through the EU mechanism.