Opinion: It’s too easy to blame Brussels for vaccine delays

Lack of national accountability for decisions taken at EU level is the real problem behind the slow vaccine rollout, with Brussels unable to take key decisions on vaccine policy without the agreement of member states, says Professor Ronan McCrea (UCL Laws). The EU's reputation has taken a hit over its conduct of vaccine procurement. The content of the charge sheet is now well known. The union bargained hard on price and liability with manufacturers and failed to insert "Europe first" provisions into contracts. It then found itself with much lower levels of supply than others who had paid a premium for early delivery, accepted liability if things went wrong, drafted tighter contracts and approved vaccines more quickly. Although the situation is likely to improve rapidly from April on, given the grave consequences of delays to the vaccine programme, people are entitled to expect political accountability. With little chance of the president of the European Commission or the EU commissioner for health resigning or being removed from office, for some, the long-established Eurosceptic critique of the EU as an unaccountable organisation seems to have been strengthened.