COVID-19 is one of the largest challenges the EU has faced since its foundation in 1957.

The
widespread disruption caused by the pandemic has forced the EU to take many unwanted
and unprecedented steps in order to secure the safety of its citizens. Travel policy and free
movement between borders of member states has been the subject of much conversation
since March 2020.

Article 45 of the TFEU1 provides for visa-less travel between EU member states for its
citizens. Following the implementation of lockdowns in many member states to prevent the
spread of coronavirus, this Article came under scrutiny. While EU countries reserve the right
to restrict free movement on the grounds of public policy and public health, this is a
complicated area which may be subject to international disagreements or legal action within
the European Court of Human Rights.

Naturally, while the introduction of a vaccine to the coronavirus would be of huge help in
the fight against the pandemic, it was always going to come with red tape. The EU’s vaccine
rollout has been widely criticized as member states have fallen behind in the rollout race in
comparison to non-EU members, such as Israel, the USA and the UK. While member states
are entitled to approve vaccines themselves, they are reluctant to do so, as it may show a
lack of solidarity with other countries and have a negative effect in the long run. Thus, whilst
the UK went ahead and approved the AstraZeneca vaccine and commenced the rollout very
quickly, EU member states had to wait out the tedious approval process by the EMA.

The EMA (European Medicines Agency), set up in 1995, is an agency of the EU. It works
similarly to the American equivalent, the FDA, in evaluating and supervising medicines for
human and animal use. The slow rollout and lack of supply of vaccines in EU member states
has come under much scrutiny from those member states and the general public. Much of
this is not necessarily the fault of the EU, though – as we have seen, AstraZeneca has failed
to meet supply targets leading to contractual disagreements, while blood clots relating to
the AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson jabs have seen them subject to review, obviously
causing further delays. Frustration is rife nonetheless as EU citizens grow tired of continuing
to live in isolation, despite a cure being within touching distance.

The EU vaccine strategy was set out in June 2020. The objectives included ensuring the
quality, safety and efficacy of vaccines, securing timely and affordable access to those
vaccines and ensuring member states were adequately equipped for a safe and effective
vaccine rollout.2

The vaccine policy prioritized several main groups, namely healthcare workers, those over
the age of 60 and those who are at risk due to underlying medical conditions. The European
Commission has set a target for member states to have vaccinated at least 70% of their
respective adult populations by summer 2021.

A European-wide vaccine rollout is uncharted territory for the EU, thus it is difficult to
accurately predict the economic outcome. Billions of euro has been invested into research

1
Article 45, Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
2
EU Vaccines Strategy, https://ec.europa.eu/info/live-work-travel-eu/coronavirus-response/public-health/eu-
vaccines-strategy_en
and development, not to mention the purchase of the vaccines themselves. Further money
has been invested in transport and storage fees. One would hope that widespread
vaccination would result in herd immunity and the reopening of society, resulting in the
return of normal life. In this case, economies should thrive and the Eurozone should
recover, marking a successful return on investment on the vaccination programme.

However, a potentially disastrous occurrence could be the failure of the vaccines to provide
immunisation from new variants of COVID-19, resulting in a return to lockdowns,
lengthened economic crisis and billions of euros invested in the vaccination development
and rollout down the drain.

Naturally, I personally hope the former to be the result. I fully support the EU’s vaccine
policy and whilst I have inevitably grown impatient waiting for my turn to get my jab, I have
enjoyed seeing all the other members of my immediate family receive their doses, putting
my mind at ease knowing that I cannot pass any illness onto them, should I be so unlucky to
contract the virus myself.

To date, I would view the vaccine rollout as a success. It has come under much scrutiny here
in Ireland and while some of the criticism is justified, much of it is out of the control of our
own government, as they are dependent on those in the EU to secure adequate supply and
distribute such supply evenly throughout member states, whilst also providing aid for
poorer countries who do not have the economic power to secure vaccines for their own
citizens. A process which should have taken years has taken merely months, and for that we
should be grateful.