Sunday

10th Dec 2023

EU commission keeps vaccine price secret

  • US paying Pfizer and BioNTech €1.64bn for 100 million doses (Photo: Nathan Forget)

The European Commission says it cannot disclose the price of Covid vaccines due to contractual obligations.

The comments were made on Thursday (12 November) by EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

"The commission is not legally able to disclose information contained in the contracts," she told MEPs in the European Parliament.

The European Commission has, to date, signed signed three advance contracts and will soon sign a fourth with pharmaceutical firms Pfizer and BioNTech.

Pfizer and BioNTech will alone be producing some 300 million does for the European Union. By comparison, the US is paying the same firm €1.64bn for 100 million doses.

The commission has also signed contracts with vaccine-makers AstraZeneca, Sanofi-GSK, and Janssen Pharmaceutica NV and is in talks with CureVac and Moderna.

The non-disclosure position was reiterated by chief European Commission spokesperson Eric Mamer the same day.

"We cannot tell you what the price of the vaccine is," he told reporters.

But some MEPs, also on Thursday, demanded greater transparency anyway.

Among them was the chair of the European Parliament's environment committee, French liberal MEP Pascal Canfin.

"There is no reason for you to not be able to publish the price of the vaccines," he said.

Canfin had also demanded the commission release information on the profit margins.

"We also want to know where the product is being manufactured," he said.

Swedish socialist MEP Jytte Guteland and German Green MEP Jutta Paulus made similar demands.

"It [transparency] is the only way to create trust," said Paulus.

The complaints followed a concession by Kyriakides to offer limited access to the contracts.

She said the commission was ready to explore making information about the contracts available to some MEPs once negotiations were finalised.

She also revealed that the contracts keep EU liability rules intact, should things go wrong.

"The agreements with the vaccine developers do not change or derogate legislation or rules on liability," she pointed out.

She argued that revealing further details to the public would weaken the commission's negotiating position.

"We need to be extremely careful during these negotiations, so we do not have companies cherry-picking on the best conditions," she said.

The safety and security of the vaccines must first be guaranteed before any release to the wider public, Kyriakides added.

"All member states will have equal access to the available doses at the same time," she said.

EU seeks more health powers after dubious Covid-19 response

After the lack of coordination evidenced during the first months of the Covid-19 pandemic, the European Commission put forward a set of proposals to strengthen the preparedness of members states in cross-border health threats.

EU seeks new deal for '90% effective' Covid-19 vaccine

After an experimental Covid-19 vaccine developed by the American giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech was found to be more than 90 percent effective, the EU announced that it will sign a contract for up to 300 million doses.

EU stands by anti-Covid drug, despite WHO doubts

A panel at the World Health Organisation said the antiviral drug remdesivir was 'ineffective' in treating Covid-19. But tens of thousands of doses have already been distributed throughout the EU and a €1bn contract signed with Gilead.

Investigation

EU negotiators defend high Covid vaccine prices paid to pharma

In September 2020, the EU Commission's top vaccine negotiator made a pledge - doses would cost between €5 and €15, Sandra Gallina assured MEPs. Little did she know that her fixed cap would crumble under pressure from jabmakers.

Opinion

The EU's U-turn on caged farm animals — explained

A European citizens' initiative — signed by 1.4 million people — saw the EU Commission promise to ban cages for 300 million farmed animals. Then the farming lobby got involved.

Opinion

'Pay or okay?' — Facebook & Instagram vs the EU

Since last week, Mark Zuckerberg's Meta corporation is forcing its European users to either accept their intrusive privacy practices — or pay €156 per year to access Facebook and Instagram without tracking advertising.

Latest News

  1. How Moldova is trying to control tuberculosis
  2. Many problems to solve in Dubai — honesty about them is good
  3. Sudanese fleeing violence find no haven in Egypt or EU
  4. How should EU reform the humanitarian aid system?
  5. EU suggests visa-bans on Israeli settlers, following US example
  6. EU ministers prepare for all-night fiscal debate
  7. Spain's Nadia Calviño backed to be EIB's first female chief
  8. Is there hope for the EU and eurozone?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us