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Individual states and the European Union, trapped by their public declarations, engage in doublespeak. In reality, realpolitik has won, and favours multinational pharmaceutical companies. Despite great opacity surrounding the ‘advance purchase agreements’, some useful information has been leaked. Once again we can see that the iron law of neoliberal capitalism holds: losses have been socialised and profits privatised. Pharmaceutical companies were subsidised to the tune of billions of euros by EU member states and the European Commission — which poured more than €2bn euros into the development of vaccines — for research and development, then the massive production of doses, thereby limiting the risks to business. Yet these businesses retain control over patents, fiercely negotiate prices with states, and restrict donations and possible resale to developing countries. According to the Belgian Secretary of State for the Budget Eva de Bleeker, the rates negotiated by Brussels range from €1.78 for AstraZeneca to €10 for CureVac and €14.68 for Moderna.
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