Answer given by Ms Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission
11.10.2021
The EU Vaccine Strategy[1] was developed on the basis of a mandate from Member States, according to the principle that working together is the best way to secure enough COVID-19 vaccines for the EU citizens.
By signing the agreement between the Commission and the Member States, all Member States confirmed their participation in the joint purchase procedure.
The Commission cannot comment on steps vaccine developers have taken to sell vaccines to private entities. As a general principle, the abovementioned agreement rules out parallel negotiations between Member States and vaccine developers whose vaccine candidate is the subject of negotiations in the EU vaccines portfolio.
However, Member States are free to lead their own negotiations with pharma companies that are not negotiating with the Commission under the terms of the EU Vaccine Strategy.
AstraZeneca has not respected its contractual commitments on deliveries. Despite numerous requests and meetings with the Commission and Member States, the company has not offered satisfactory remedies.
For this reason, the Commission started legal proceedings against the company, on behalf of the Commission and the Member States. On 18 June 2021, the Court of First Instance of Brussels decided to grant interim measures in the case.
The Court ordered AstraZeneca to urgently deliver 50 million doses of vaccine by 27 September 2021 according to a binding schedule[2]. On 3 September 2021, the EU and AstraZeneca reached an agreement to ensure the delivery of remaining 200 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to EU Member States under the terms of the advance purchase agreement.
The agreement will end the pending litigation before the Brussels Court[3].