Did the EU botch vaccine contracts?

A conservative analyst thinks that rather than lecturing EU member countries based on political preferences, the European Commission should have concluded meaningful contracts with big pharma companies on supplying Covid-19 vaccines.

On Mandiner, Márton Ugrósdy, a fellow at the Foreign Ministry think tank lambasts the European Commission for mishandling the joint Covid-19 vaccine procurement procedure, which he blames for the unexpected vaccine shortage throughout the Union. He says the agreements the Commission signed with pharmaceutical companies included no timetable for vaccine deliveries nor even an actual obligation on the part of the producers to deliver. He asks how the Commission will reign in Big Tech, which imposes widespread censorship on social media sites. When it comes to lecturing member countries who happen to purchase Russian vaccines one week before Germany, Ugrósdy writes, without mentioning Hungary by name, the European Commission immediately becomes highly efficient.  The same applies, he remarks in a clear hint at PM Orbán of Hungary, when a national leader opines that democracy doesn’t necessarily have to be liberal.  The problem, as he sees it, is that the European Commission is not accountable, thus it can afford both to play a political role without having a political mandate, and to show incompetence in negotiating with Big Pharma on vaccines.

Tags: EU, illiberal democracy, vaccination