FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT
BERLIN – Angela Merkel did not go in person to the European summit in Porto, participating only virtually and provoking some criticism. But the chancellor spoke yesterday on the phone with Ugur Sahin, the founding scientist of BioNTech and father of the vaccine of the same name together with his wife Zlem Treci. The topic of the conversation was Joseph Biden’s proposal to temporarily suspend the protection of patents on anti-Covid vaccines, to accelerate their more equitable global distribution.
A precise signal of what Merkel’s priorities are, who has rejected without appeal the idea of the American president, having its spokespersons say that the protection of intellectual property is the engine of innovation and must remain so in the future. In any case, according to Merkel, the factor that limits the availability of vaccines is not patents, but the production capacity and the very high quality standards required. a position in full harmony with that of Sahin and the Rhenish company.
But Angela Merkel’s attitude doesn’t just betray her concern to protect a German company, which has spent resources and energy on research. In fact, other factors weigh on the choice of the chancellor. First of all, there is an internal political component, which is reflected in the electoral campaign already underway: Verdi, Linke and NGOs immediately supported the White House proposal. Germany must link up with the US and launch an initiative at the World Health Organization, said GRNEN co-chair Robert Habeck. With her no, Merkel can profile the CDU as the champion of made in Germany, all the more in the field of advanced technologies.
But even stronger and more interesting is the strategic factor. Merkel has said early on that the advent of the Biden administration after the Trump disaster, while welcomed with relief, would not eliminate differences of views between America and Europe. The one on vaccine patents is an example. All the more so as the US somersault puts Berlin in front of a dilemma: on the one hand, the German government was among the first to commit to a more equitable global distribution of vaccines, generously financing the Covax initiative under the aegis of the UN. On the other, It is irritating that after months of insisting on the national vaccination campaign, including strict export bans, the US now wants to profile itself as champions of international solidarity.
Not only. The Chancellor is also annoyed by the fact that Biden’s turning point is also one counter move in what is defined vax-diplomacy. By proposing to liberalize the production of vaccines, albeit for a fixed period, the White House seeks to create a political capital in the systemic conflict with China, launched into the silk road of health with the export of its Sinovacs and Sinopharm to Africa and elsewhere. In other words, that of Biden looks like a move from soft power, lacking immediate effect in the global fight against the pandemic. But it risks already producing concrete negative effects on the entrepreneurial level, penalizing long-term investment decisions.
May 7, 2021 (change May 7, 2021 | 22:48)
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