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Amidst all the fireworks over the EU’s reverse ferret on NI let’s not forget the bigger picture:
1. The EU’s *still* seeking to limit vaccine exports to 3rd countries.
2. Macron baselessly cast doubt over the efficacy of the Oxford-AZ vaccine - the height of irresponsibility 1/5
1. The EU’s *still* seeking to limit vaccine exports to 3rd countries.
2. Macron baselessly cast doubt over the efficacy of the Oxford-AZ vaccine - the height of irresponsibility 1/5
3. In a fit of pique the EU brow beat AstraZeneca into publishing an unredacted contract with major security dimensions, likely via back channel threats of serious regulatory & commissioning punishments.
4. This will lead to an exodus of EU-domiciled life sciences capacity. 2/5
4. This will lead to an exodus of EU-domiciled life sciences capacity. 2/5
5. The crisis is unfolding because the European Commission muscled in to insist this was a supranational competence as member states couldn’t be trusted. They then goofed up. Months of unnecessary delay yielding only tiny contractual changes + a lack of vital lead-in time. 3/5
6. The Commission has lashed out at others - AZ, Pfizer & the UK Government - in an effort to avoid one iota of responsibility. Even now they’re compounding their mistakes by angering the world with a bout of ugly vaccine nationalism. European electorates will remember this. 4/5
7. The tragedy of the Commission’s failings is that many lives, both in the EU and around the world, may be needlessly lost as a result of both the initial mistakes & the EU’s latest policy decisions.
8. Had Brexit never taken place, we’d very likely be in the same boat. 5/5
8. Had Brexit never taken place, we’d very likely be in the same boat. 5/5
