Left MEPs are demanding the establishment of a European Parliament Committee of Inquiry to scrutinise the series of blunders by the Commission, which have led to serious delays in the roll-out of vaccination campaigns across the EU.
As the pandemic rages and people continue to die, the Commission has been embroiled in a high-profile spat with pharmaceutical corporations over delivery of vaccines ordered as early as last summer. The Commission has turned a deaf ear to widespread calls from the public, civil society and from within the European Parliament to lift Intellectual Property Rights of vaccines to allow for mass production, choosing instead to protect the profits of pharmaceutical corporations over the health of EU citizens.
“The Commission has shown that when push comes to shove, it sides with neoliberal dogmas and the profits of multinationals over the rights and the lives of EU citizens,” Manon Aubry, Co-President of the Left in the European Parliament, said. “What is happening with the vaccines and the overall Commission response to the social emergency is a scandal. This is why we demand the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry to investigate and hold accountable those responsible,” she added.
Co-President Martin Schirdewan demanded that the Commission lift the veil of secrecy over the vaccines purchase agreements:
“The Commission is running away from democratic scrutiny and is refusing to own up to its mistakes. President von der Leyen is shockingly turning a blind eye to the struggles of ordinary Europeans.
“This sad state of affairs has left us with no other option but to work towards the establishment of a European Parliament Committee of Inquiry to hold those responsible for the vaccines fiasco to account and force through a change in approach.”
