Jean-Claude Juncker urges EU to step back from ‘stupid vaccine war’

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The EU should step back from waging a "stupid vaccine war" with the UK, former European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has said.

In a rare intervention that is likely to enrage is successors in Brussels Mr Juncker said the bloc was risking "major repetitional damage".

His comments come as EU leaders meet for an online summit on Thursday to thrash out a way forward on vaccine supplies.

The Commission said on Wednesday that it would tighten existing rules on exporting vaccines from the EU to stop doses being shipped to countries that had a less urgent need of those producing the treatments.

The plan was backed by Mr Juncker's successor Ursula von der Leyen, who called on drug maker AstraZeneca to "fulfill your part of the deal toward Europe".

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But Mr Juncker told the BBC's Hardtalk programme: "I do think that we have to pull back from a vaccine war.

"I think that there is room for dialogue, for discussions, for developing arguments on both sides of the Channel.

"Nobody in Britain, nobody in Europe understands why we are witnessing such a, according to the news, a stupid vaccine war.

"This cannot be dealt with in a war atmosphere. I don't like that.

"This has to be dealt with in an intense dialogue between the European Commission and the British Government.

"We are not in war, and we are not enemies. We are allies."

Speaking ahead of the meeting of the 27 presidents and prime ministers, German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended the plans, and said European would also need to step up its own production.

"We can see clearly that British facilities are producing for Great Britain," she said.

"The United States is not exporting, and therefore we are dependent upon what can be produced in Europe."

Boris Johnson warned yesterday that there could be consequences of the EU if it took a hard line on exports of the vaccine.

The UK vaccine programme has surged ahead of its European neighbours, partly because of greater access to the doses needed. The EU says some companies are not meeting their contractual obligations to deliver doses to Europe, while shipping them to the UK.