Angela Merkel decided to subordinate Germany’s acquisition of Corona vaccines to the EU. There was no statutory or legal requirement to do so. After all, EU members buy neither butter nor guns through Brussels, so why should they buy their vaccines via the EU. This was a political decision that was meant to strengthen the notion of cohesion. A joint effort towards a joint success, an EU “we dunnit” effect was hoped for.
Will it deliver the hoped-for European moment? Not at all certain. Brussels is not very transparent as to how and why vaccine purchase contracts were agreed.
According to media reports by the end of January, Israel will have received more of the MADE-in-GERMANY Biontech-Pfizer vaccine than Germany itself.
How will Germans react if it turns out that the decision to order less of the Biontech-Pfizer vaccine and instead order more of the cheaper Astra-Zeneca, was made under pressure of some (East-European member) countries?
Merkel’s decision to subordinate the vaccination programme to Brussels might achieve the very opposite of what she was hoping for: it could actually strengthen the anti-European extremists.
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