BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union will propose to the World Trade Organization a plan it believes will help boost production of COVID-19 vaccines and to make them more widely and fairly available, the EU’s trade chief said on Wednesday.
Under pressure from developing countries to agree to a waiver of intellectual property rights for vaccines and treatments, the EU’s plan will focus on export restrictions, pledges from vaccine developers and use of existing WTO rules.
“Universal and fair access to vaccines and treatments must be the global community’s number one priority,” EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told EU lawmakers.
(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop)
