AstraZeneca Discloses EU Vaccine Contract After Supply Spat

From Brexit to migration, the European Union has weathered a multitude of crises over the past two decades. None has affected so many of its citizens in such a profound way as its failure to inoculate them against the coronavirus.

The slow and chaotic nature of the bloc’s vaccination rollout has alarmed politicians, frustrated business and led to simmering anger among its 450 million-strong population. Not for the first time, the EU is confronted with the question: What is its purpose, if 27 countries working together are less effective than when governments go it alone?

After almost a year of lockdowns to fight a pandemic that hit Europe harder than much of the rest of the world, the EU’s seeming inability to do more to come out the other side is stark: Its governments have administered just 2.3 doses of vaccine per 100 people, far behind the 11.4 per 100 in the U.K. and 7.8 per 100 in the U.S. That slow rate of inoculation against the virus has dire consequences for fatalities and the pace of economic recovery.

Confronted with its perceived public failings, the European Commission in Brussels is taking on the pharmaceutical companies and imposing export controls in an all-or-nothing escalation of its response. Privately, EU officials and diplomats worry that the bloc has failed in its prime obligation -- to protect its citizens -- and fear the corrosive effect that could have in the long run.

As member states flirt with nationalist forces that compel the EU to constantly justify its existence, such errors could have consequences more far-reaching than if they’d been made by an individual government, one official said. Another described the unfolding chaos as like a horror movie.

“The political risks for the EU are enormous,” said Guntram Wolff, director of the Brussels-based policy group Bruegel. “But we should be clear: Many EU countries would have fared much worse if they had to negotiate with pharma companies on their own.”

Negotiating contracts is supposed to be what the EU excels at. In reality, the bloc was behind the U.K. and the U.S. in signing deals for vaccines and in obtaining regulatory approval to use them. Unforeseen pharma plant closures plus member states’ inconsistent approach to delivery further slowed the rollout. To hear EU officials, there was no single misstep that caused the situation, but rather a succession of events that created a “perfect storm.”

Calls are now being heard for an inquiry. But it’s already clear that what has the makings of a debacle could yet become an existential crisis if more member governments, facing voters desperate for a vaccine and businesses clamoring to reopen, choose their own path. It’s a risk for the bloc just as its principal unifying voice, Chancellor Angela Merkel, prepares to stand down, with no clear candidate to take the helm in Germany.

Almost a year ago, when the pandemic reached Europe, governments including Germany and France took unilateral action to safeguard protective equipment and close national borders. That left a bitter taste and fed resentment across the continent.

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