US to temporarily suspend intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines - Quotes from Ska Keller & Philippe Lamberts

President Joe Biden announced that the US will temporarily suspend intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines. The Greens/EFA urge for the European Parliament to take a clear position in the next sitting.

Ska Keller MEP, President of the Greens/EFA Group, comments:

"President Joe Biden is taking a most welcome step, showing the way forward for Europe. Now there can be no more excuses from the European Union. We call on Ursula von der Leyen to support this historic initiative and make global solidarity a reality. Waiving of patents alone will not be sufficient, the EU also needs to lend full support to technology transfer to third countries to globally scale up production. Furthermore, we call on the US government to promote the export of essential components for the production of vaccines.” 

Philippe Lamberts MEP, President of the Greens/EFA Group, comments:

"The EU must stand with India and South Africa by following the US in transatlantic partnership and support a waiver of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). The fight against the pandemic will only succeed if we work together; the vaccines against Covid-19 must become a public good for the benefit of all and this must be reflected in the contracts with the companies. We will ask for a clear position of the European Parliament in the next sitting.”