Boris Johnson to call on EU leaders to dismiss proposals to block vaccine exports to UK

It is understood Mr Johnson spoke to Ms von der Leyen, along with Dutch and Belgian prime ministers Mark Rutte and Alexander De Croo last week. Picture: Aaron Chown/PA)

Boris Johnson is expected to ask European leaders this week to dismiss any proposals to block coronavirus vaccine exports to the UK.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has ramped up the rhetoric this weekend, saying the EU has the power to “forbid” exports, adding: “That is the message to AstraZeneca.”

The warning reflects growing frustration on the continent that the EU is not getting the supplies it expected from the British-Swedish manufacturer.

The UK Prime Minister is expected to contact his EU counterparts ahead of virtual summit on Thursday where European leaders are due to consider the matter, The Financial Times reported.

It is understood Mr Johnson spoke to Ms von der Leyen, along with Dutch and Belgian prime ministers Mark Rutte and Alexander De Croo last week, and that he may speak to other EU leaders over the coming days.

However, European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union Mairead McGuinness said no decisions have been made over any potential vaccine export block.

Ms McGuinness told BBC1’s The Andrew Marr Show that European citizens were “growing angry and upset” that the vaccine rollout had “not happened as rapidly as we had anticipated”.

She said: “Both the EU and the UK have contracts with AstraZeneca and my understanding is the company is supplying the UK but not the European Union.

“We are supplying the UK with other vaccines, so I think this is just about openness and transparency.”

British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace hit back by warning the manufacture of the Pfizer vaccine depends on supplies from the UK.

“The grown-up thing would be for the European Commission and some of the European leaders to not indulge in rhetoric but to recognise the obligations that we all have,” he told The Andrew Marr Show.

“We will all hold each other to our contracts.

“Making a vaccine is like baking a cake.

“We all have different ingredients and the European Commission will know that.

“You pointed out the point about Pfizer.

“They will know you wouldn’t want to cut off your nose to spite your face.”

Mr Wallace said the EU would suffer “severe reputational” damage if it tried interfering with vaccine exports.

(PA Graphics)

“If contracts and undertakings get broken, that is a very damaging thing to happen for a trading bloc which prides itself on the rule of law,” he said.

“It would be counterproductive because the one thing we know about vaccine production and manufacturing is that it is collaborative.