The EU are on a collision course with the UK over vaccines.

From the Guardian

EU’s joint approach may have secured lower prices and guarantees, but it came at the expense of speed – and at such a critical moment, it can only watch as the UK, which paid the full price, is benefiting from its early orders.
However, the EU approach came with strings. The commission, negotiating for the first time on vital medicines, felt that EU countries would demand value for money, so it dragged out the talks to secure better prices and product liability guarantees. That meant it signed the contracts with AstraZeneca in August, three months after the UK’s contract

Seems like the EU were driven by money (Greed) the Astrazeneca vaccine was sold at cost to the world but the EU wanted to get it even cheaper.

Apparently the issue between EU and U.K. is now resolved.

Storm in a teacup?

Huge stock of vaccine has been found ‘hidden’ in a factory in Italy. 29 million doses!,

During a surprise raid over the weekend, an elite unit of Italian military police acting on EU orders discovered 29 million jab doses hoarded at a factory near Rome.

The discovery appeared to confirm the EU's long-held suspicion that AstraZeneca was giving the UK special treatment, secretly exporting doses to its home country while failing to deliver on contracts agreed with Brussels.

Yet, as EU officials admitted on Wednesday, the allegation, briefed to the Continental press, simply wasn't true.

In fact, most of the doses discovered in the Italian factory were destined for the EU itself, with the remainder headed for poorer countries across the world.

One former Europe minister called it possibly the "most embarrassing day in the EU's history".

?

Bruno Maçães, Portugal's former Europe minister, called it possibly "the most embarrassing day in EU history".

"So Italian police raids a vaccine factory at suggestion of commission to find out these are vaccines for a global initiative aimed at providing equitable access to vaccines for some of the world's poorest regions? I think we're going to need an explanation of why Italian military police burst into a vaccine factory on false grounds," he added.

Honestly, You couldn’t make it up. They raided a factory that has vaccines to be sold to themselves, which were being stockpiled because they hadn’t approved the factory.

It’s like the Chuckle Brothers on speed.

Imagine the reaction form around the world if Trump had done something like this?

The really, really scary thing is that, according to my understanding of the article, the EU is giving order to Italian military personnel.

Wow, the unaccountable EU have direct control over a branch of the Italian military?

Jesus. this is scary. I genuinely fear for Europe.

I’m off to me bed.
Let’s see what the newspapers make of this in the morning!

Perhaps someone could tell us how many vaccines the U.K. exports to the EU? Genuine question.

Irrelevant vegansrock nice deflection there.
?

The UK signed business contracts with companies in mainland Europe for vaccines. The European Commission is attempting to undermine/invalidate these contracts.

If you were a big business owner would you be thinking twice about investing in a factory within the EU if UvDL (or any future EU commissioner) can just pitch up and control your exports? I know I would be extremely hesitant.

Does the EU even want the AZ? It has criticised it endlessly. Useless in the over 65s. Causes blood clots. Only to be given to over 55s. They wanted a better price. So on and so forth.

As they have admitted they've made a mess with their programme.

Personally I believe that this was possibly just too big a job for the EU. They might have fared better had each country gone alone and sorted out what was needed for their population.

Of course, we we are endlessly told, these countries could have followed the UK but they were advised to wait for the French vaccine. A vaccine which sadly failed.

I want the EU to be vaccinated as much as they do

Nobody is safe until we're all safe

We used to have a big Pfizer plant here in the U.K. till they relocated to mainland Europe .Anyway, no one seems to know how many vacccines the U.K. exports to the EU. Not irrelevant. You have to see things from both points of view.

vegansrock

We used to have a big Pfizer plant here in the U.K. till they relocated to mainland Europe .Anyway, no one seems to know how many vacccines the U.K. exports to the EU. Not irrelevant. You have to see things from both points of view.

You seem to have missed the point, this is about the EU Commissioner interfering in a business contract between the UK Government and Astra Zeneca.

I thought that too GrannyGravy13. All this unfortunate mess has probably come at the right time to deter big businesses from either leaving the UK or starting up in the EU. The UK may have lost out to the EU in terms of the financial sector jobs, but manufacturing at home may well become a new growth area.

Pfizer has four sites in the UK, Cambridge, Hurley, Sandwich and Walton Oaks. These are research and development, manufacturing and distribution centres.

That's a good point Gannygangan and with hind sight the EU may well see that it would have been much better for the members to organise their own supplies.

I agree Urmstongran that the number of vaccines the UK has exported to the EU is irrelevant. As GrannyGravy has posted, the EU is trying to circumvent legally binding contracts the UK has signed.

This has nothing to do with the number of vaccines the UK has exported to the EU or intends to export.

Monsieur Macron has admitted the EUs failings on the vaccine front and had praise for others getting on so well, like the USA and....and....oh wait, he ran out of battery power! Perhaps he needs some Duracell so that he can finish the sentence!

The UK is continuing to export raw ingredients for vaccines to the EU (according to the BBC)

You seem to have missed the point, this is about the EU Commissioner interfering in a business contract between the UK Government and AstraZeneca.

Exactly.

Pantglas

I don’t know about the other plants you mentioned GG13 but Pfizer left Sandwich in 2019 with the loss of 2000 jobs.https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.kentlive.news/news/kent-news/sandwich-small-kent-town-forced-3552067.amp

vegansrock

I don’t know about the other plants you mentioned GG13 but Pfizer left Sandwich in 2019 with the loss of 2000 jobs.https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.kentlive.news/news/kent-news/sandwich-small-kent-town-forced-3552067.amp

Pfizer.co.uk just a short paragraph from their active website this morning.

Pfizers presence at Discovery Park (Sandwich, Kent) is as diverse as the company itself, with over 800 scientists, technicians, regulatory professionals and business experts all working towards creating life-changing medicines for patients

Pfizer does have a presence in Sandwich but it is tiny to what it used to be. About 10 years a go it closed its R&D and other bits and reduced its staff by 2k. There are a few hundred left now but it is nothing like it used to be.

It is a huge site and is largely now let to other businesses.

It is just the same with Smith Klein their presence in Worthing to tiny to what it was.

All gone to Europe as soon as they saw the writing in the wall.

So many highly skilled jobs lost.

Totally agree GG13. ?

We are not dependent on the EU for the vaccines as UvdL suggests, we are depending on those companies domiciled in the EU to fulfil their contractural obligations.