The European Commission ‘has sent a very dangerous signal to the world,’ one senior international trade figure told Insider.
News analysis The ugly row last week between the European Union and drugs giant AstraZeneca – which resulted in the EU threatening to blockade exports of European-produced vaccines – is an early sign of the sort of vaccine nationalism that could be about to spread right across the globe. The EU has threatened to restrict the export of vaccines to third countries, including the United Kingdom, amid widespread disquiet about the slow roll-out of vaccines on the continent. Brussels ultimately rowed back from the most controversial part of its plan, which would have seen a border imposed on the island of Ireland, following international outrage, not least from Ireland itself, which is a member of the EU. However, there are serious concerns among industry leaders that the EU’s actions will trigger other nations and trade blocs to follow through on similar plans and plunge the world into a series of damaging vaccine trade wars. They fear that the EU’s decisions have sent a dangerous signal to the world that “vaccine nationalism” is an acceptable tactic for dealing with the pandemic. One senior international trade figure, who asked not to be named, told Insider this week that “the European Commission’s move last week had opened a Pandora’s box.
