London warns the European Union of “breaching contract” with ban on exporting AstraZeneca vaccine

It would be “ counterproductive ” for the European Union to ban the export of Corona vaccines to the UK. This is what British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said on Sunday An interview with Sky News.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned last week that exports to third countries could depend on vaccines exported by those same countries. But if the committee had taken the matter that far, it would be “serious reputational damage,” Wallace now says.

Since the beginning of February, the European Union has already exported 10 million vaccines to the UK, but it has received nothing itself. “If the situation does not change, we may have to consider making exports to vaccine-producing countries dependent on their exports,” UNHCR chief von der Leyen said on Wednesday. She hinted at an export ban or other more stringent measures.

The discussion revolves around AstraZeneca’s Corona vaccine. at Contract with the European Union According to the commission, the company is also undertaking production for the European market in two British factories, especially if European production does not reach the specified level.

But according to AstraZeneca, what is produced on British soil is primarily intended for the British vaccination program, which was also specified in the contract between AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford with the British government.

The only production site in continental Europe that currently produces AstraZeneca vaccines for Europe is the one located in Seineve, Wallonia. Another subsidiary on European soil, the Halix plant in Leiden, Netherlands, is operating so far only for the British market.

The rapid start-up of the Halix plant in Leiden is critical to boosting European production of AstraZeneca vaccine. AstraZeneca has waited a very long time to request production process homogeneity from the EMA and hit the brakes, as it turns out.

“A GMP certificate has been issued for this site,” says Belgian Noel Lauthion, second in-line at the European Medicines Agency (EMA), in an interview in De Tigd. But this is not enough. The company must provide additional data. We are awaiting data on test methods.

Once this data is available, Wathion stresses, homogeneity can be conferred via an accelerated procedure. “I mean a few days, depending on the quality of the data.”

He says he cannot answer the question of whether EU countries can actually reserve stocks that are produced there. This depends on the contracts entered into. The EMA is not involved in this.

Defense Minister Wallace warns the European Union against breaching the contract. “Failure to comply with contracts would be particularly harmful to a trade conglomerate patting on the back for complying with the rule of law,” he said on Sunday.