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Is the EU's attitude to UK , over Covid vaccines , akin to a bitter spouse, after a marital break up, or indicative of deeper prejudices ?
Does the EU's recent antagonism towards the UK ,over vaccine supplies , simply reflect a bitterness over the UK's departure , or does it simply reveal , the deeper and more historical prejudices, that some EU countries have always held towards the UK ? .
Elizabeth : There may well be a contractual element to this dispute -- but the EU's response was irrational ,and indicative of a much deeper lying resentment of countries ,such as France and some more southern European EU members, towards the UK.
1 Answer
- ?Lv 73 months agoFavourite answer
The "EU's attitude' has nothing to do with the UK or Brexit, and everything to do with a contract with a supplier.
The UK signed early supply contracts with AstraZeneca and began receiving vaccine doses. Initially there were production problems in UK manufacturing facilities and the supply was partially coming from plants in Europe.
The EU also signed contracts and AstraZeneca has recently informed the EU that it will be unable to supply 60% of the first quarter deliveries. The problem the EU has is that this shortfall is being blamed on production issues in European facilities.
What the EU want to know is why they aren't receiving shipments from the UK plants since, irrespective of Brexit, they are part of the supply chain. Are AstraZeneca and the UK government engaged in 'vaccine nationalism' where they have struck a deal to ensure UK delivery targets are met through an exclusivity of output from UK plants, while failing to deliver to the EU?
Most legal analysts believe, if the EU took AstraZeneca to court over breach of contract, they'd probably win since the EU published a redacted version of the contract that could be studied. But that's in no one's interests.
So this really is just a supplier/buyer issue. The EU messed up because they came out fighting, trying to look tough and trying to avoid embarrassment since they took on the provisioning rather than leave it to individual member states. Unusually for the EU, they threw a tantrum, rather than start with a grownup conversation to find solutions and minimise the drama.