EU slammed by Martin Daubney on coronavirus vaccine rollout

The European Union has a target of vaccinating at least 70 percent of the population in each member state by the end of August, but this seems to be a far-fetched objective. Europe has approved two vaccines, one from Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE and another from Moderna Inc., but their supply is insufficient. Meanwhile, AstraZeneca, whose shot is set for approval by the European Medical Agency this week, said it will deliver 50 million fewer doses to the EU than it had expected, causing tensions among its CEO and European leaders.

The bloc has only managed to administer about 8.9 million doses in total, about two for every 100 citizens. On the other hand, the US and the UK are running at seven and 10.5 respectively, while Israel is at 43.

Since all vaccines that have been approved so far require two jabs to work, it appears to be a very steep mountain to climb to get the EU’s program on track.

Political commentators believe the consequences of this failure could be disastrous if they are not addressed quickly.

In an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk, German MEP and EU lawyer Gunnar Beck even claimed Britain’s success with its vaccination programme could exacerbate divisive trends in Europe and push other countries to leave the bloc.

A recent Euronews poll found that 45 percent of respondents were in favour of Italy leaving the EU if Brexit is successful.

We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights.

However, according to Mr Beck, Rome is not one of the prime candidates.

He said: “We will see over the next few years how Britain does outside the EU.

“But I am optimistic.

“The early implications for the Covid-19 crisis and how the vaccination programme is being managed in the UK are positive.

“I think this will greatly influence the behaviour of individual countries in the EU, particularly because there are some who do not like the policies pushed forward by France and Germany.”

He added: “The prime candidates for leaving the EU are Finland over the euro.

“Denmark has been rather aloof and doesn’t agree with many policies such as migration and it is not even part of the euro.

JUST IN: EU in huge swipe at UK as bloc opens door to Wall Street

“The Netherlands is also rather discontent with the large subsidies for the eurozone.

“These are the most obvious.

“I can’t see Italy or Southern European countries leaving at least until they get their share of German money.”

In a 2018 debate at the Oxford Union, former Greek Finance minister Yanis Varoufakis also claimed the bloc will not break up because of countries like Italy or Greece.

However, he surprisingly tipped Germany as the first country to say goodbye to the euro.

He said: “The euro will break up, if it breaks up, I am not wishing that it does, I am simply describing the future as I see it.

“The way it will happen is that Germany will leave the euro once the Berlin political class has had enough of the riff raff, asking the Greeks, the Italians, the French, the Portuguese and so on.

DON’T MISS:
EU trade chief hits back at Joe Biden’s concerns: ‘US system is slow'[INSIGHT]
French fisherman blames EU for depending so much on UK waters [REVEALED]
EU poised to make life impossible for Scotland in membership bid blow [EXCLUSIVE]

“The moment they start sniffing in the wind that possibility they might have to bail out 2.7 trillion euros of Italian debt, believe you me, the Bundesbank already has a plan in the drawer for printing Deutsche Marks.”

Mr Varoufakis then explained what will happen after is that all German accounts will be redenominated from euros to Deutsche Marks immediately, as Germany has a “gigantic account surplus”.

He added: “The nearer we are getting to a fragmentation of the euro, the higher the value of the German euro.

“Of course what will happen is euros will be shifted from Italian bank accounts to German bank accounts.

“This is already happening.

“There are about 200 billion in the last 18 months that have shifted from Italian to German bank accounts because of the risk of keeping your euros in a country that after the break-up of the eurozone will see its currency redenominated downwards not outwards.”

Source: Read Full Article