(adds context)
By Francesco Guarascio and John Chalmers
BRUSSELS, March 4 (Reuters) - The European Union is planning
to extend its export authorisation scheme for COVID-19 vaccines
to the end of June, two EU sources told Reuters on Thursday, in
a move that could reignite tensions with countries who rely on
shots made in the EU.
The mechanism was set up at the end of January as a reaction
to vaccine makers' announcements of delays in the deliveries of
COVID-19 vaccines to the EU.
It is due to expire at the end of March, but the European
Commission wants to extend it through June, the two officials
said.
"The Commission will propose its extension into June. And
that was greeted by the member states with approval, not
necessarily enthusiasm, but there is a feeling that we still
need that mechanism," one senior EU diplomat said.
The second official added that at a meeting with EU
diplomats on Wednesday, many countries supported the measure,
including heavyweights Germany and France.
The EU Commission was not immediately available for a
comment.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi has also called for
sanctions on companies that do not respect their contractual
obligations with the EU.
When the EU's export control mechanism was introduced in
late January it triggered an outcry from importing countries who
feared their vaccine supplies might have been hampered.
Under the scheme, companies must get an authorisation before
exporting COVID-19 shots, and may have export requests denied if
they do not respect their supply commitments with the EU.
However, the EU has authorised all requests for export since
the scheme's debut on Jan. 30 to Feb. 26, which amounted to 150
requests for millions of shots to 29 countries, including
Britain, the United Arab Emirates and Canada, an EU Commission
spokeswoman said.
She added, however, that at least one request was withdrawn
by an exporting company. She declined to elaborate.
Export requests mostly concern the Pfizer-BioNTech
vaccine which is manufactured in Belgium. AstraZeneca
and Moderna shots have also been exported from
the EU.
Since Jan. 30 more than 8 million vaccines were shipped from
the EU to Britain, a third EU source said.
Britain has so far prevented the export of AstraZeneca
vaccines to the EU, using a UK-first clause in its supply
contract with the Anglo-Swedish firm, EU officials have said.
The United States also has regulations that effectively ban
vaccine exports, the head of the European Commission Ursula von
der Leyen told a news conference last week.
(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio and John
Chalmers; Editing by Toby Chopra)
Astrazeneca (AZN)
