A senior European diplomat urges caution in the use of proposed new rules regulating the export of Covid-19 vaccines outside the EU. The rules were announced by the European Commission earlier Wednesday.
The stricter export controls proposed by the Commission would lead to vaccine dispatches being judged based on the percentage of vaccinations and vaccine exports from the destination country.
In a briefing to journalists, the diplomat said that the EU and European countries “should be cautious about the nuclear option of a pure export ban”. And if not used correctly in “appropriate situations, it will backfire”.
“We speak as – I would say – a pharma superpower, we have a huge concentration of pharmacology companies in our territory,” whose presence, “counts for several percent of our employment, of GDP,” explained the diplomat.
“We are well aware of the interdependence of these logistics chains, and we think that using an export blocker tool could very quickly turn itself against ourselves,” the diplomat said, fearing it would expose us to obvious retaliation. measures, a breach of confidence and, also in the future, reduced opportunities for investment and trade. “
The existing export mechanism – targeting pharmaceutical companies – has been in place since the end of January and requires every company manufacturing the Covid-19 vaccine to register its intention to export doses outside the EU. European countries decide in cooperation with the Commission whether to approve or refuse shipments.
According to figures released by the Commission today, more than 300 applications have been submitted and 43 million vaccines have been exported to 33 countries. Only one shipment of 250,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from Italy to Australia was blocked.
The diplomat welcomed this “excellent by-product” of the current mechanism. “We understand, of course, the need for greater transparency, we are firmly behind the Commission in that regard,” adding that “we now have a very precise picture of how export flows are organized.”
When asked why the extensive legislation was now being brought forward, the diplomat said they felt it, “probably a sign of some nervousness prevailing”, in some European countries.
“The Commission is not deaf to what is going on in the Member States, they hear cries for help or outrage, and it is up to the Commission to think about it and put forward proposals,” he added.
European leaders will meet Thursday and Friday to discuss this proposal and the wider coronavirus crisis in Europe. If signed, the extended export mechanism would “apply until six weeks after entry into force”, according to the draft Commission text.