BRUSSELS (AP) – The European Union on Friday imposed stricter rules on exports of COVID-19 vaccines that could be sent to countries such as the UK, which could deepen a dispute with London over the scarce supply of life-saving shots.
But amid screams in Northern Ireland and the UK, the European Commission has made it clear that the new measure does not control the vaccines produced in the 27-nation bloc to the small area that is part of of the United Kingdom, which borders EU member Ireland, does not cause.
Under the post-Brexit agreement, EU products must still be able to travel unhindered from the bloc to Northern Ireland.
“In the process of finalizing this measure, the Commission will ensure that the Ireland / Northern Ireland Protocol is not affected,” the EU executive said late Friday.
Amid a dispute with Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and British leader Boris Johnson had an unexpected call, in which the British prime minister ‘expressed his grave concern’ about the possible impact that the steps taken by the EU ‘could have today on the export of vaccines,’ reads a statement from the British government.
The EU has announced its plans to tighten the rules for exporting coronavirus vaccines produced within the bloc amid fears that some of the doses AstraZeneca received may be diverted elsewhere. The measure can be used to block shipments to many countries outside the EU and ensure that any executive in the EU must first submit their plans to the national authorities.
The government of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland immediately called off the fight, saying the bloc had called for an emergency clause in its divorce agreement with Britain to impose controls on Northern Ireland. Goods are supposed to flow freely between the EU and Northern Ireland under special arrangements for the British region designed to protect the peace process on the island of Ireland.
But the EU later said it was not relying on Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol, which allows any parties to replace parts of their agreement.
“The Commission is not activating the safeguard clause,” he said in his statement, adding that the restrictive regulations have yet to be finalized and that they will not be adopted before Saturday.
The phone call between von der Leyen and Johnson eased somewhat which quickly became a diplomatic hotspot.
“We have agreed on the principle that there should be no restrictions on the export of vaccines by companies where they fulfill contractual responsibilities,” von der Leyen said in a statement.
The EU struck at AstraZeneca this week after the company said it would deliver only 31 million doses of vaccine in initial shipments, instead of the 80 million doses it had hoped for. Brussels claims that AstraZeneca would deliver even less than that, just a quarter of the doses that should have been between January and March – and member states have started complaining.
The European Commission is concerned that doses intended for Europe may have been diverted from an AstraZeneca plant on the mainland to the United Kingdom, where two other companies are located. The EU also wants to make doses available to European citizens at two locations in Britain.
“The UK has legally binding agreements with vaccine providers and they do not expect the EU as a friend and ally to do anything to disrupt compliance with these contracts,” the UK said.
AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot told the German newspaper this week that the British government had helped create the vaccine developed with the University of Oxford and had signed his contract three months before the EU did so. Soriot said that under the British contract, first vaccines produced in the UK must first go to the UK.
To prevent similar disputes and allay fears that vaccines could be diverted, the Commission has put in place measures to tighten the rules for the export of shotguns produced in EU countries. The transparency mechanism for the export of vaccines will be used at least until the end of March to control shipments to non-EU countries.
The EU has insisted that it is not an export ban, although it could be used to block shipments to the UK or many other non-EU countries. Many poorer countries and close neighbors were released.
Officials said it was intended to ensure that EU member states get the shots they bought from producers. The World Health Organization has criticized the new EU export rules as ‘not useful’.
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and other WHO officials have warned of supply chain disruptions that could ripple around the world and potentially stem the fight against COVID-19.
The ‘advanced procurement agreement’ with the EU was signed in August before the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was properly tested. The European Medicines Agency approved the vaccine on Friday, making it the third to be authorized by EU countries.
Earlier, the bloc of 27 countries and AstraZeneca announced a strong version of their vaccine agreement that is at the heart of a dispute over the delivery schedule.
The contract, agreed by the European Commission and the drug manufacturer last year, allows EU countries to buy 300 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, with an option for another 100 million doses. It is one of several contracts the EU executive has with vaccine manufacturers to secure a total of more than 2 billion shots.
As part of an ‘advanced purchase agreement’ with companies, the EU said it had invested 2.7 billion euros ($ 3.8 billion), including 336 million ($ 408 million) to produce AstraZeneca’s serum at four factories.
Much of the 41-page document that has been made public has been obscured, making it difficult to determine which side is right. Details about the price of the vaccine were particularly inferred. The UK pays much more for the vaccine than EU countries.
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Associated Press authors Danica Kirka in London, Nicole Winfield in Rome, Jamey Keaten in Geneva and Thomas Adamson in Paris contributed to this report.