On the initiative of the European Parliament’s Committee on Petitions (PETI), MEPs addressed the issue of transparency in the EU’s procurement and distribution strategy for Covid-19 vaccines in plenary session on Thursday 16 September.
“The fact that the Commission and Member States have legally restricted the publication of details of vaccine purchase contracts with pharmaceutical companies is problematic. This has happened despite the fact that the EU and Member States have publicly funded much of the research into vaccines, covered the initial costs of vaccine producers, and granted emergency authorisations”, said MEP Dolors Montserrat (EPP, Spain) by way of introduction.
The MEP also regretted that this lack of transparency has fuelled uncertainty and disinformation about the Covid-19 vaccines. This is an observation shared by many of her colleagues.
“Many European citizens choose not to be vaccinated, and in many cases they do so because of the mistrust that has been generated. This could have been avoided if, from the very beginning of the negotiations with the pharmaceutical companies, the greatest possible transparency had been offered”, stressed Cristina Maestre Martín De Almagro (Spain), on behalf of the S&D.
Tomislav Sokol (Croatia), representing the EPP, also called transparency a necessary precondition for maintaining confidence in vaccines, fighting disinformation and “strengthening the legitimacy of the decision on joint medical procurement of vaccines across the EU”.
“You cannot ask national States to implement and communicate measures for which you, the European Union, do not give full explanations”, added Vlad Gheorghe (Romania), on behalf of Renew Europe.
The European Commission dodged the issue
Many others then accused the European Commission of continuing to be highly opaque, at the risk of undermining the legitimacy of its commitments and calling into question the citizens’ right to information.
On behalf of the Committee on Petitions, Mrs Montserrat therefore addressed a series of questions to the European Commission. In particular, she sought to know when the company would publish details of contracts for vaccines and what it would do to ensure that the results of clinical trials and protocols for potential vaccines were published in a timely manner.
Commissioner Ylva Johansson, for her part, only reiterated that the European Commission could not, “due to the highly competitive nature of this global market”, publish all the information contained in the contracts.
“Non-disclosure clauses are a standard feature of purchase agreements. They protect the legitimate interests of companies”, she insisted, assuring that the disclosure of commercially sensitive information would weaken the EU’s negotiating position.
However, she said that she had taken note of the calls for more transparency. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)