Farce

 

A few weeks ago, I had followed the European news about the coronavirus vaccine and the stupefying decisions that started coming out of Brussels.  I have to tell you straight away that in two or three days I completely changed the impression I had from one where decisions coming out of the European Union had by necessity to be taken at a snail’s pace due to bureaucrary and the many governance layers, to one where decisions can actually be taken overnight with non-existent consultation.

 

For those of you not knowing what I’m talking about, the subject is the anticipated delay in the supply of vaccines from AstraZeneca, that developed with the University of Oxford, which in the first quarter of this year 2021 are expected to supply the EU (and be distributed to member states) less than half the doses contracted for.

 

This is not the first vaccine injected into European citizens, including Maltese, as the first vaccine was that manufactured by Pfizer, which also had some manufacturing problems, but the furore only touched AstraZeneca.1

 

In a few days of public pronouncements, the EU:

• •decided that vaccines manufactured in the EU had to have been requested permission by their country of manufacture before being exported; 

• •expected that AstraZeneca vaccines made in the United Kingdom be given to Europe instead of remaining in that country, even when AstraZeneca was obliged to supply the UK with its own contract;2 

• •decided to restrict the export of vaccines from Ireland to Northern Ireland by activating an article in the Brexit agreement with the UK. 

 

Let’s dwell briefly on each point.

 

Firstly, now it is no longer important whether other countries outside of the EU have themselves a vaccine supply contract.  First it’s us, then it’s us and finally it’s us.  Collaboration, bye bye.  If it had been Donald Trump to take a similar decision, I wouldn’t have been surprised.  Maybe Trump is now a consultant with the European Commission?

 

The second point is along the lines of the first.  It seems that only contracts that companies have with the EU are important to be followed, all others are secondary!  The World Health Organisation, WHO, has said that this attitude might affect vaccine distribution on a global scale.

 

The last point regarding the Ireland frontier was a big surprise, almost universal, as not even the Irish government had been informed – so much for consultation!  If the decision had been kept, this would mean that there would be a need for customs controls on the frontier between the two sides, something the EU criticised the UK for over many months as could be the result of Brexit (or the act of Britain leaving the EU).  This decision raised hell and was cancelled practically the next day.3

 

During the Brexit negotiations, the European side had given the impression of competence, consistency and of following solid principles.  Nevertheless, given the speed at which the EU was ready to abandon its stated principles on the North Ireland peace agreement and global solidarity, this reputation was greatly diminished, in the eyes of many observers, and mine.

 

It is true that this is a very important subject, but I think that the European Commission, and President Ursula von der Leyen, has stepped on a banana skin.

 

1https://www.bbc.com/news/explainers-52380823, retrieved 3/2/2021

2https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-30/european-union-eu-coronavirus-vaccine-shipments-australia/13105718, retrieved 3/2/2021

3https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/01/30/962454276/eu-reverses-move-to-restrict-export-of-covid-19-vaccines-to-northern-ireland, retrieved 3/2/2021