Debate: Preparation of the European Council meeting of - December  - The EU's response to the global resurgence of Covid- and the new emerging Covid variants
Date: WEDNESDAY, 15 DECEMBER 2021
Speaker: Maroš Šefčovič
Language: EN

Mr Weber described it as a war, and indeed it’s a battle for human lives, it’s a battle for a return to life as we knew it before pandemia, and it’s a battle for minimising the consequences of COVID—19 on jobs and the economy.  Mr Mureşan and Mr Séjourné told us that the best response to these unprecedented challenges was European unity. I agree with them because, thanks to this European unity, we secured enough vaccines for Europeans to already have managed to fully vaccinate 66% of our fellow citizens and we became, in a short period of time, the biggest manufacturer of vaccines. I would underline – which we never should forget – that we are also the biggest exporter of vaccines in the world. We have exported more than 1.4 billion doses so far, and this is more than anybody else. We know that other major economies have simply been closed for exporting to anyone with the exception of their own citizens. I think that we should be really proud of that because we supply to the world more than we supply to ourselves.  The same goes for EU donations. We have donated so far 377 million doses through COVAX and 50 million additional doses bilaterally through the Team Europe effort, especially to countries of the Western Balkans and the Eastern Partnership. So I would say that it’s again the European Union which delivers when others, very often with huge public relations noises, are just promising.  I recognise that for many Members of the European Parliament, as was very well presented by Ms Iratxe García Pérez, the issue of patents and the negotiations in the WTO is very important. So here let me underline that it’s actually the Commission which is engaging the most in these discussions. What we are trying to do is to find a solution which waives certain obligations in the TRIPS Agreement without the consent of the patent owners and that will have an effect on the ground. We advocate a solution that would clarify or waive certain obligations on compulsory licensing, to allow WTO members to authorise a company to manufacture and export COVID—19 pharmaceutical products in a fast and simplified manner.  This would also ensure that countries with no, or insufficient, manufacturing capacity do not face any obstacles or legal uncertainty when they import these products. The details are part of the negotiating process, but the main principles are maximum simplification, speed and no red tape. In addition, a number of clarifications, including on supporting manufacturers that supply low and medium—income countries at affordable prices, would provide the needed legal certainty because the full waiving of patent and other rights under the TRIPS Agreement would not in itself help reach the objective of the widest and most timely distribution of COVID—19 vaccines. On the contrary, we need measures that preserve the ongoing, unprecedented collaborations between pharmaceutical companies that yield record supplies of vaccines, as well as incentives to innovate and invest in research on COVID—19 and its variants.  All these elements must go hand in hand if we are to support the increase in production facilities in regions such as Africa. Production will not increase if there is no transfer of know—how and investment. For that to happen, we need the intellectual property framework which secures the rights of innovators.  Furthermore, we promote a comprehensive approach where intellectual property is just part of the solution. As the President has already outlined, we are also preparing, ahead of the EU—Africa Summit, the special support package to Africa, not just doses of vaccines but also medical equipment and know—how. We also work, as Team Europe, with our partners in Senegal, Rwanda, South Africa and the private sector to construct mRNA vaccine production sites.  Many honourable Members want us to help Africa as much as we can, and we acknowledge this. We said from the beginning that we will not be safe until the whole world is properly vaccinated. Therefore you will see that there will be lots of preparation invested in the EU—Africa Summit, which we want to have as a big success and a milestone in our mutual relations and collaboration.  Ms Cavazzini referred to the excellent work of the scientists from South Africa. I really want to officially appreciate their work, thank them for their transparency and thank them for their openness. You will agree with me that, at the moment when the news about this new variant first broke, we needed to act very quickly to assess the risk. But we are also acting very quickly now because what we are now proposing is that non—essential travel from this country could resume with vaccinations and a negative PCR certificate. So we want to make sure that this issue will be settled as quickly as possible. Once again, huge appreciation to South African scientists for the work and openness.  Mr Buşoi referred to the fact that vaccines are our main preventive tool to fight the pandemic but, even with vaccines and with this new variant, Omicron, what we also need is good cooperation and progress in therapeutics. I think this is becoming even more important and urgent right now, because if people fall ill they need to be properly treated. We presented our strategy on COVID therapeutics last May, but what is very important for you to know is that we should have six therapeutics authorised by the end of the year. Four are authorised already and we expect that two will come through the approval process before the end of the year.  What we are doing right now is supporting our Member States to have access to these therapeutics, and we have already concluded two joint procurement contracts for the purchase of monoclonal antibodies. On 13 December, we launched the joint procurement for two more to be concluded early in 2022.  If you allow, I will conclude with a couple of words on Russia, Ukraine, energy and the Green Deal because many honourable Members referred to their concerns over the massive build—up of a military presence along the eastern Ukrainian border. I would like to reaffirm once again our unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. On top of our close political cooperation, we have so far supported Ukraine, as you know, with more than EUR 40 billion since 2014.  We are also working in other sectors, and I would say that we are collaborating very closely in all areas, from energy to critical raw materials. We are supporting Ukraine with structural reforms, with modernising the administration, and we have also been faithful to the task given to us by the European Council when they asked us to come forward with options if the situation were to become more dramatic and if there were to be a danger of further escalation or further aggression against Ukraine. We have the options ready, we are prepared to act and we will present the options to the European Council tomorrow. But we do of course, also this time, appeal for peaceful resolution, for de—escalation and for using diplomatic channels to work on a solution.  If you allow me, I will close on the issue of energy and our green policies because this was very much present in the interventions by Mr Lamberts, Mr Eickhout, Mr Geier and Ms Spyraki.  I think that we demonstrated very clearly throughout this year, with our Green Deal package, with Fit for 55, with our clear leadership in COP 26 in Glasgow, but also in our package which we adopted just yesterday, that we are very clearly the global leader when it comes to tackling climate change. We are the only major economy which translates our political aspirations into law and concrete measures. Once we come and present to you in greater detail the package of further measures which we adopted yesterday and which tackles the issues of the hydrogen industry, energy security, and the modernisation of our transport, getting TEN—T infrastructure ready for smart mobility, that will be further testimony in that regard.  The issue of energy prices is, of course, very high on our agenda and we are working with our Member States to make sure that they will deploy fully the toolbox which we offered to them to tackle energy poverty, help the most vulnerable and make sure that all these opportunities are used to the maximum.  To conclude, I would like to thank my colleague, Mr Logar, for the excellent work of the Slovenian Presidency, and I think we can all symbolically welcome the new Presidency of France here in the city of Strasbourg.