The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke on Thursday evening after EU leaders met for a summit. The EU’s slow vaccine rollout, which was organised by the Commission, has been blamed on pharmaceutical companies for not delivering on their promises.
However, AstraZeneca – who bear most of the brunt from Brussels – have denied failing to honour its contract.
Speaking at a press briefing, Ms von der Leyen said: “We have to and want to explain to our European citizens that they [can] get their fair share.”
She added: “Companies have to honour their contract to the European Union before they export to other regions in the world and this is of course AstraZeneca.
“I think it is clear that first of all the company has to catch up, has to honour the contract it has with the European member states before it can engage again in exporting vaccines.”
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Earlier on Thursday, Ms von der Leyen took to Twitter to explain that the EU has exported 77 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to 33 countries since last December.
It came after the EU and UK issued a joint statement on Wednesday pledging to work together to “create a win-win situation and expand vaccine supply for all our citizens”.
The statement read: “In the end, openness and global co-operation of all countries will be key to finally overcome this pandemic and ensure better preparation for meeting future challenges. We will continue our discussions.”
French President Emmanuel Macron supported the EU’s export ban and said the leaders’ summit on Thursday marked the bloc’s “end of naivety”.
He added: “I support the fact that we must block all exports for as long as some drug companies don’t respect their commitments with Europeans.”
