* EU under fire over slow vaccine rollout, border checks
issue
* Faces grilling at four EU lawmaker group meetings
* Von der Leyen says Commission has been 'quick on its feet'
* Sees easing of supply problems as production ramps up
(Adds EU lawmaker meetings, and comments by MEP, senior
diplomat)
By Philip Blenkinsop
BRUSSELS, Feb 2 (Reuters) - EU chief executive Ursula von
der Leyen on Tuesday faced hours of questioning by lawmakers
over the European Commission's vaccine strategy, focusing on a
slow roll-out and an export control plan that dismayed Britain
and Ireland.
Questions still surround the Commission's decision - swiftly
reversed - to invoke Article 16 of the Brexit agreement's
Northern Ireland protocol, a move that would have set up border
checks on the island of Ireland.
Von der Leyen, who has tweeted and appeared only on German
television since the bloc mandated authorisation for vaccine
exports, will be quizzed in meetings of three European
Parliament groupings on Tuesday evening and another on Wednesday
morning.
Sophie in 't Veld, a Dutch liberal lawmaker, said before her
group met that von der Leyen was relying on too narrow a circle
of advisers.
"She's made a couple of big fat mistakes. Article 16 was
one," she told Reuters, adding that her tendency to speak only
to German media was another problem.
A senior EU diplomat said von der Leyen's position was
probably safe with a closing of ranks around the Commission, but
there would be "some unpleasantness in coming days".
Senior British minister Michael Gove, who is to meet his
Commission counterpart on Wednesday, said London's trust in
Brussels had been eroded and that the two must resolve serious
problems over post-Brexit trade arrangements for Northern
Ireland.
REGRET OVER 'PROVISIONAL' DECISION
In interviews with newspapers outside Germany, the European
Commission president sought to defuse criticism over the EU's
slow start to COVID-19 vaccinations and outrage over the border
checks issue.
Asked by the Irish Times if she would apologise, von der
Leyen said she regretted that Article 16 was in a "provisional
version" of the decision, but said the EU executive had been
"quick on its feet" to find another solution.
In similar comments to France's Le Monde she said: "When you
take urgent decisions - in this year of crisis, the Commission
has taken almost 900 - there is always a risk of missing
something."
The vaccine crisis, which came to a head with EU export
controls announced on Friday, followed news that AstraZeneca
would cut its supply of vaccines to the bloc until March
by 60% due to production problems.
Even with the addition of an extra 9 million doses that von
der Leyen announced on Sunday, the shortfall is at least 50%.
EU countries have so far given first doses to about 3% of
their populations, compared with 9% for the United States and
14% for Britain, according to Our World in Data.
Von der Leyen said the supply problems should ease in the
second quarter of 2021, with more production capacity for
BioNTech/Pfizer and other potential approvals
of vaccines, including from Johnson & Johnson.
The Commission has ordered 2.3 billion doses from six
producers, far more than the bloc requires. Production, though,
was an enormous challenge, with clear teething problems.
"I see it as a marathon in which we have only covered the
first kilometres," she told Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant.
(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; additional reporting by John
Chalmers
Editing by Gareth Jones and Angus MacSwan)
Astrazeneca (AZN)
