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Bruno Waterfield Profile picture
Bruno Waterfield
@BrunoBrussels
Newspaper man by trade, Brussels correspondent for the Times. Radical democrat by conviction, supporter of free speech.
3 subscribers
Jun 18, 2021 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Both Astra-Zeneca and the European Commission are claiming victory after Brussels court ruling
It does not seem that EU will get any extra vaccines it would not have done otherwise AZ seems pretty pleased
EC demanded 120 million vaccine doses cumulatively by the end of June 2021 - and a total of 300 million doses by the end of September 2021.
Judge ordered delivery of 80.2 million doses by 27 September 2021
May 11, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Quite something. Barnier wants to suspend all immigration to France and open a debate on Schengen/EU borderless travel sone To be crystal clear: Barnier is talking about non-European immigrants, Arabs and Muslims predominently, not EU free movement. He is aditionally insisting on fortress Europe as precondition for Schengen
Mar 23, 2021 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Back from the brink of a vaccine war? It seems so
thetimes.co.uk/article/angela… Some important details. Halix stocks are the key - and it is a relatively small figure, some >4m doses when filled and finished
Mar 22, 2021 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
We feel like bit part actors in a German drama, said a diplomat last night of EU export ban driven, as many see it, by prospect of electoral annihilation for Merkel's Christian Democrats at the polls

thetimes.co.uk/article/ben-wa… Dutch see Netherlands as having little or no legal choice if the European Commission blocks the exports of the unfinished vaccine product
Mar 12, 2021 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
It is going to get a lot worse - especially if (as is distinctly possible) the EU blocks a vaccine shipment to UK this April or May
Invidious comparisons between Britain and EU on vaccine roll out is becoming a major factor and will make inevitable Brexit friction worse Dynamic hard to break
UK government talks up success on vaccination procurement and roll out to play down impact of Brexit failures - especially on customs systems & absence of deals on food
There was always going to be friction but real, avoidable problems now exposed
Mar 10, 2021 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
Couple of things to note on Oxford-AstraZeneca and questions over exports from with implicit allegation that Britain has beggared its EU neighbours by withholding vaccines
UK has in fact suffered similar supply shortfalls - AZ a third of what was anticipated by end of Q1 2021 AZ, only approved vaccine being manufactured in the UK, has a decentralised manufacturing model. It's not-for-profit, low cost and open licensing as aim of scaling up global production quickly
UK tax-payer funded that development, enabled clinical trials & global manufacture
Mar 10, 2021 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Conference on the Future of Europe today "in a subdued ceremony designed to have as few people as possible notice it’s happening"
Via @MehreenKhn
Far cry from the Laeken declaration, showing how moribund & subterranean EU federalism has become

amp.ft.com/content/231dcd… The merit of the last convention was that it was at least constitutional meaning it was openly declared in a mega-treaty and then rejected by voters, mothballed after French and Dutch voters. Before being enacted as Lisbon treaty without votes
Mar 9, 2021 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
. @eucopresident has fanned flames of a growing row
He claimed today that UK has "imposed an outright ban on the export of vaccines or vaccine components produced on their territory"
This is "completely false" according to UK Here is his newsletter
Feb 17, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Reap the whirlwind. Europe's anti-vaxx nationalism bearing fruit here. Hardly surprising after Germany, France and others called the vaccine into question on Purley political and irrational grounds

bloomberg.com/news/articles/… In Berlin out of 30,000 doses of the vaccine delivered last week, only 990 had been administered so far
theguardian.com/world/live/202…
Feb 2, 2021 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
This Von der Leyen interview is a classic of the genre
No apologies, move along now nothing to see here, in fact things are better than expected and those who are doing more quickly are irresponsible

lemonde.fr/international/… She unrstands the upset but ACTUALLY EU vaccinations going quicker than originally planned
“Things went faster than expected, which is good news: we didn't expect to start vaccinating until spring"
Never mind comparisons....
Feb 1, 2021 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
Her spokesman blamed Valdis Dombrovskis, trade, whose chief official Sabine Weyand wrote the NI protocol. The whole saga is still surrounded by lies, #1 being that Von der Leyen knew nothing about it Von der Leyen's spokesman said: "This regulation falls under the responsibility of Dombrovskis and his cabinet and of course the services of the commission which respond to him"
Dec 20, 2020 • 8 tweets • 1 min read
The government has created a mutation monster as the frontiers now shutting because of the scare - Dutch, Belgian and German travel bans so far… Marc Van Ranst, the Belgian virologist - and no stranger to sounding the alarm himself - has had 4 cases in his lab and sees the mutation as a “minor variant” only
“The new variant in England does not cause any additional concern,”
Dec 18, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
What's the main hurdle? Fish
Barnier has doubled down in front of MEPs
Demanding demanding 8 year transition with fishing quotas remaining more or less unchanged
If UK then cuts quotas in annual negotiations - especially in the 12 nautical mile zone then it is trade sanctions Image Listening to some of these MEPs, it is worth recalling that in July the EU rejected Frost's suggestion not to go for zero tariffs or quotas. Barnier said that even if it was like Japan or Canada, EU would still demand exactly the same
May 19, 2020 • 17 tweets • 3 min read
Some analysis on the big risks and battles ahead for Merkel and Macron over the historic Franco-German accord on a pandemic recovery fund The 500bn fund is far from being a done deal and needs unanimous support of all 27 EU countries and there is strong opposition, including questions over its legality (although details are thin on the ground)
May 18, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Macron/Merkel plan would require extra national form all EU27 guarantees to MFF 2021-2027 worth 165bn
That would be leveraged into a fund worth 500bn
If paid out as grants, that 500bn would have to be paid back in total by all 27 via contributions or EU taxes French argue that could be over a 40 year period - with no repayments at all for 3 years
To avoid burden of extra time EU budget contributions there could be new European taxes to pay it off
Mar 27, 2020 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
Last night's #EUCO revealed that a pandemic will not be enough to overcome the traditional rifts, divisions and constraints of the eurozone Italian PM Conte told other EU leaders “don’t bother” with traditional bailouts or ESM credit lines that come attached with austerity conditions and loss of sovereignty as in the last eurozone debt crisis
Feb 19, 2020 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Letter from Phil Hogan, the trade commissioner, to Dutch MPs on Ceta/Canada trade deal undermines EU argument on special, bespoke "level playing field" structures for post-Brexit trade deal
rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/bri… He wrote to assure them because of concerns over fair competition, he insisted Ceta did not need "monetary or trade sanctions" to enforce standards, like the sort of measures asked of UK
Oct 25, 2019 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
France is emphasising (again) that question of duration, terms of the Benn act, can not be separated from purpose or justification
Tusk leaves soon and will replaced by Michel who agrees with Macron
No deal is firmly back on the table - if not next week then in the new year France can live with Jan 31 2020 but only if there is ratification or elections not if the Westminster deadlock continues status quo ante
Macron will not support Remain via extension tactic of Tusk and Merkel, he can set terms now or later because he has veto & is waving it
Oct 23, 2019 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
European ambassadors meet tonight for discussion on Tusk’s recommendations - what Johnson has told him will be critical It’s fair to say he’s jumped the gun, forced the issue, chances for disagreement have risen and thus another #EUCO
So written procedure is still the plan but odds are shortening on a summit
Oct 20, 2019 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
European ambassadors met for all on the15 minutes this morning and did not discuss a new Brexit delay
It is full on ratification on the EU side mirroring the government’s push to get the deal across the line Tusk has said his consultations will take a “few days” what that means that the EU will wait and see how the Commons vote on Tues before any decisions on extension
Oct 17, 2019 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
If a deal agreed today, EU side is ready to get Brexit done by October 31 Obstacles are on UK side
DUP this morning
If agreed then Commons vote on Sat
Then UK ratification