hello and welcome to bbc world news
eu leaders are meeting virtually now to
discuss their covert response
as new variants spread across the
continent in case a spiral one of the
topics is how to speed up the vaccine
rollout
and get access to more supplies the
meeting is of course happening virtually
with the leaders all joining by video
link from their own countries measures
to restrict vaccine exports are still on
the table
even after a joint statement with
britain later on wednesday saying both
sides will work together to try to
resolve the dispute over access
richard galpin reports here in this
vaccine center in cologne
as in other parts of the european union
there's only a handful of people
one key reason for that is a shortage of
vaccine supplies
and this as the eu faces a third wave of
coronavirus
which is sweeping through member states
frustrated eu officials believe the uk
has had an
unfair advantage with the contracts for
the astrazeneca vaccine
and now threatening a ban of exports of
the vaccine to the uk
i don't think that we want to use it
i am optimistic that the
joint agreement between the eu and uk
as well as the summit today will help
to solve the problem without entering a
vaccine war
but again eu has been the biggest
exporter
but london and brussels are now trying
to cool tensions with a statement saying
they're working on specific steps they
can take to create a win-win situation
and expand vaccine supplies for all
their citizens
i don't want to see blockades of
vaccines or of medicines i don't think
that's the way forward
either for us or for any of our friends
the eu meeting this afternoon is
focusing on ways to increase the vaccine
supply
and improve the distribution across the
27 countries
i think it should be made perfectly
clear that the eu
does not have a problem with the uk the
eu has a problem with astrazeneca
because astrazeneca is not fulfilling
their promises
their contractual obligations
it's vital in this pandemic that all
countries work together to tackle the
virus
vaccine nationalism could prove very
damaging
you cannot wrap a flag around a vaccine
in this modern world it just doesn't
work that way
these are integrated supply chains and
any attempt to
impose any barriers whatsoever will
disadvantage everybody involved
at today's meeting the german chancellor
angela merkel
will also highlight the need for more
vaccines to be made in the eu itself
to tackle the supply problems richard
galpin
bbc news mrs merkel briefed parliament
ahead of today's vaccine meeting and
defended the decision to buy vaccines
collectively across the eu
she also outlined what she thought of
european plans to restrict
exports of vaccines we see very clearly
that vaccines produced in the uk remain
in the uk
the united states are not exporting and
so that leaves us in a position where we
have to ask
whether what we produce in europe should
be allowed to live
because this virus is continually
mutating and the situation
will continue well beyond this year uh
angela merkel there well i'm joined now
by kathleen van bramt a belgian
mep and european parliament trade
coordinator for the
snd parliamentary group thank you very
much for joining us here on the program
kathleen
the issue of tighter controls and export
restrictions is still very much on the
table the eu is reluctant to call this
a ban what is it in your view
well they keep on saying it's not a ban
but it can be a ban
if it is used as a ban and that would be
the possibility
and in that sense i i disagree with the
measure
having said that um and that was also in
your program
we have to really um look into the
astrazeneca problem
because there's a big imbalance between
astrazeneca in the uk and estrogenic
in europe and that is unacceptable we
should be an
open economy we should provide for
vaccines in the rest of the world
but we should not be naive and there we
have to rebalance the situation with uk
and matt hancock the uk health secretary
has said
uh the difference between as you say the
uk and the eu when it comes to
astrazeneca is the contract the uk
signed
exclusivity in its deal and the eu went
for best efforts so in terms of the
queue he is saying
the uk is ahead of uh in the queue
it doesn't work that way um i don't know
what's in the contract of the uk i
haven't seen it that's one of the
problems for members of parliament
in the uk and in in europe that these uh
contracts are not very transparent
having said that
um it's up to lawyers to see what the
finesse is but they seem to be very
contradictory
a company like like astrazeneca cannot
have a contract with the eu
promising a load of vaccines and making
a completely other um
promise uh with uk that is not possible
so i think they're in contradiction and
there we should
rebalance best to do that by going into
a dialogue with each other and i think
we're
getting there somewhere because
everybody knows if we
proceed in this vaccine war then at the
end
the uk will have less vaccines and you
will have less vaccines
and the rest of the world will have less
vaccines so there's only one way to deal
with that
is that is dialogue and seek to solve
this problem but it needs to be solved
because uh the uk received 10 millions
of vaccines
from europe and europe received none
from the uk
and that is not that is not correct if
you look at the messaging of
the european leaders european countries
many would say
it has been confused on the one hand
you're
questioning the efficacy of this actual
vaccine uh saying that we're
we're holding the roll out we're taking
precautions we're suspending because
we're concerned about blood clots on the
other hand uh you're saying we need more
of these vaccines because
the fact of the matter is that there are
tens of thousands
of astrazeneca vaccines in places like
germany in france
where people are now hesitant to go and
take the vaccine
well it's a very delicate issue and we
need to keep
up support of the public opinion for
vaccinations
old vaccines by the way it's not an easy
task
having said that in belgium the country
where i come from we never stopped using
astrazeneca or kept on vaccinating
and all the other countries are resuming
the vaccination
um the reason they stop there were
questions about
some of the effects and there's seeking
the balance
um what risks do we take and what do we
not take um at the end of the line we
need at least 70
of our people being vaccinated to have
um uh
immunity for the whole population so
it's a difficult balance but
do you think do you think it was
politicized when you've got the world
health organization when you've got
uh you know various different uh
regulators saying
this vaccine is fine this vaccine has
been used on 17 million people
and only 40 or so people have these
blood clots
why are you suspending this do you think
that it had become politicized in the
end by european leaders
but can i can i outline i don't know
what is politicized in some of the
member states might be the case and that
would be
really doubtful that would not be a good
case but was not european commission or
european
authorities that took that stance on the
country they kept on saying it was
it was safe and then the the european
agency
took it again into consideration and
again said it was safe so
i think authorities especially european
authorities
took the stance keep on vaccinating um
like the the world health organization
and i truly hope it was not politicized
it would have been extremely stupid
to politicize the safety of a vaccine
kathleen van bram thank you so much for
joining us here on our program