The EU supports tighter rules on covid-19 vaccine exports

cases of covid-19 started to surge again, the slow supply of vaccines in the European Union was a political problem. Companies based in the EU have produced plenty of vaccines; unfortunately for the bloc’s citizens, they have often ended up elsewhere. By the end of this week the EU will have distributed 88m doses of vaccines within the bloc since December. It has so far exported 77m doses. On March 25th European leaders gave qualified support for stricter controls on anyone trying to send vaccines out of the bloc. The plan will let the EU halt exports to countries that are not exporting any to the EU in return, such as Britain or America, or block deliveries to places that have vaccinated proportionally more people than the EU has.It beefs up rules agreed on in January, under which firms wishing to export vaccines from the EU must seek permission, resulting in extra paperwork, missed flights and delays. The move triggered ripples of concern around the world. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, head of the World Trade Organisation, expressed dismay. The new controls were applied for the first time earlier this month, when Italy blocked the export of 250,000 doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine that were destined for Australia. Even the Netherlands, usually among the bloc’s staunchest free-traders and a hub for vaccine manufacturing, says it is ready to prevent the export of the same vaccine to Britain if required. About two-thirds of all vaccines used in Britain so far have been produced in the EU—a statistic that Ursula von der Leyen, the under-fire president of the European Commission, hammered home to leaders during a video summit.