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PM advocates use of all legal tools to increase vaccine production

politico.eu

The EU must use all available legal tools to increase the production of vaccines against Covid-19, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki wrote in an article for the Politico website on Wednesday.

“This growing determination on behalf of the European Commission to enforce contracts with pharmaceutical companies is a good sign, especially as much of the Continent faces the likelihood of a third coronavirus wave,” Morawiecki wrote. “But it is not enough. It is time to replace strong words with strong actions. We must put more effective solutions on the table.”

In the PM’s opinion, the EU should focus on two main courses of action. Firstly, it should tie export permits for vaccines produced in Europe to producers’ observance of their commitments. Secondly, it should make use of the “compulsory license procedure,” which enables governments to grant companies the right to produce a patented product without the patent owner’s consent.

“The first solution will allow the European Commission to execute the contracts it concluded with pharmaceutical companies,” Morawiecki continued.

The second measure, he added, would give EU member states a legal basis to buy patents from businesses and increase production capacity, enabling other producers a share in the effort.

“This is a reasonable and necessary measure. After all, the development of coronavirus vaccines did not come out of nowhere: They are the result of scientific research fuelled by huge public subsidies and investments. As such, these vaccines are a public good, not the exclusive property of any one company,” Morawiecki added.

“Vaccines are our most powerful weapons in defeating the coronavirus pandemic,” Morawiecki wrote. “We must use all available legal tools to ensure that they are deployed as effectively as possible. Only if we act together now and in solidarity can we successfully beat back the virus, show that we are united and provide vaccines to all Europeans.”

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