Revealed: The true, stark facts versus the EU's fiction and attacks on the UK
EU President defames UK, yet UK pledged 50% more vaccines than EU to poorer countries
© Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2021
Facts4EU.Org reveals EU’s ‘apology of an apology’ to United Kingdom, and extent of deception
In this report Facts4EU.Org publishes what the EU Council President said, what he failed to say, and the truth about the EU and vaccines.
On 09 March 2021 the EU Council President Charles Michel, former PM of troubled EU member state Belgium, issued one of his regular newsletters which he promoted to his 1.1 million followers on Twitter and via other channels. His tweet provided a link to his ‘newsletter’ and made the claim that:
“The fight against #COVID19 is not a sprint: it’s a marathon in which Europe is well placed to lead. 5 reasons why the EU will be a major ally in freeing the world from this virus.”
Astonishing claims in the EU ‘newsletter’, defaming the UK and the USA
Here is what Charles Michel wrote in his official ‘newsletter’, linked to in his tweet to all his followers:
Credit:Charles Michel Twitter feed
“I am staggered to hear Europe accused of not acting in solidarity. And sad to see it criticised for wanting to share doses before having vaccinated all its citizens.
“Right from the start, Europe has been the most fervent advocate of an international response and of the principle that the vaccines must be universally accessible and affordable.”
“I am also shocked when I hear the accusations of ‘vaccine nationalism’ against the EU. Here again, the facts do not lie. The United Kingdom and the United States have imposed an outright ban on the export of vaccines or vaccine components produced on their territory. But the European Union, the region with the largest vaccine production capacity in the world, has simply put in place a system for controlling the export of doses produced in the EU.”
- Charles Michel, EU Council President, public newsletter, 09 Mar 2021
Those were the EU’s claims, now here are the facts
- Fact 1: EU countries are no longer “acting in solidarity” – many are now going their own way
- Fact 2: The United Kingdom has not banned the export of one single dose of the vaccine
- Fact 3: Italy, approved by the EU Commission, has banned 250,000 doses of the vaccine from being exported
- Fact 4: The EU Commission has said that further export bans may be implemented
Dominic Raab responded immediately
According to the BBC, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab then wrote to Monsieur Michel to “set the record straight”, saying the “false claim has been repeated at various levels within the EU and the Commission”. His letter is understood to say: “The UK government has not blocked the export of a single Covid-19 vaccine or vaccine components.”
When an apology wasn’t forthcoming, the Foreign Office followed this up by summoning the EU’s deputy ambassador to Carlton Gardens.
And what was the response from the EU?
Faced with being caught out in a blatant deception, the President of the EU Council did not withdraw his statement. Instead he wrote the following on his Twitter account:
“Glad if the UK reaction leads to more transparency & increased exports, to EU and third countries. Different ways of imposing bans or restrictions on vaccines/medicines. EU is providing vaccines for its citizens and rest of the world.”
- Charles Michel, EU Council President, Twitter feed, 09 Mar 2021
Charles Michel made no attempt to correct his defamatory claims against the United Kingdom, and nor did he apologise.
The UK has pledged far more to world vaccinations than the EU administration
When it comes to the EU administration spending money, it is the Commission that spends the budget. The effort to provide vaccines to all of the developing and poorer countries around the world is known as COVAX and it is run by the Vaccines Alliance. Facts4EU.Org accessed the latest figures available from the Vaccines Alliance and our analysis shows the following.
Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary
COVAX project for global vaccinations
Total contributions pledged, 2021 – 2025 (Last update: 11 Mar 2021)
- United Kingdom : $735 million
- EU Commission : $489 million
- Belgium (Charles Michel’s home country) : $5 million
© Brexit Facts4EU.Org - click to enlarge
So far the UK has pledged over 50% more than the EU Commission
It’s even worse for the EU in the last five years, 2016-2020
Facts4EU.Org looked at the donations actually received by the Vaccines Alliance in the last five years, 2016-2020. These are not ‘pledges’ but real cash. They relate to vaccines for all kinds of diseases.
Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary
Vaccines Alliance project for global vaccinations of all kinds
Total cash received, 2016 – 2020 (Last update: 31 Dec 2020)
- United States : $1,380 million
- United Kingdom : $1,378 million
- Norway : $770 million
- EU Commission : $0
© Brexit Facts4EU.Org - click to enlarge
Observations
It seems that these days the EU’s apparatchiks just can’t stop making blunders. This latest howler from the President of the EU’s most august and powerful body, the EU Council, is another in an increasingly long line of faux-pas.
Charles Michel’s non-apology is a disgrace. From the President of the highest body in the EU hierachy this is profoundly disturbing, although not perhaps unexpected given the EU’s track record in propaganda.
If a newspaper published a claim like his it would most probably be told by IPSO (the Independent Press Standards Organisation) to issue a front page retraction. Instead Monsieur Michel published a tweet saying “Glad if the UK reaction leads to more transparency & increased exports, to EU and third countries.”
This is tantamount to saying that the EU has prompted the UK into changing its ways. The truth is that it is the EU that needs to change its ways.
The EU propaganda machine just keeps on rolling
For years we have been showing up the EU’s propaganda for what it is, generally using the EU’s own official data to do so. In this case we have used the official and latest data from the Vaccines Alliance on COVAX, the body representing the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the World Bank amongst others. It is incontestable.
It shows the contributions pledged from the EU’s budget fall far below those of the United Kingdom. And these are only the pledges, not the actual cash received for the COVAX programme.
Is it any wonder the EU’s stars are fading in the UK and in the EU27?
The former Soviet Union was guilty of exactly the same kind of misinformation, deflection, and outright decptions. In the end, the pretence simply could not hold, and the whole edifice crumbled.
Polls in the UK are already showing that a much higher majority of the British people do not wish to be part of the EU than was the case in the vote in the EU Referendum of 2016. The EU’s continuing actions have contributed to an awakening on the part of many people who were originally persuaded by Project Fear to vote Remain.
On Thursday last week we showed how only 6% of EU27 citizens have a ‘very positive image’ of the EU.
It remains to be seen how long it will take before citizens in the EU27 will demand wholesale and radical changes in the way their lives are run from Brussels, as well as changes in the key figures running the entire rotten edifice.
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[ Sources: EU Council President Twitter account | Foreign and Commonwealth Office | GAVI data | WHO ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.
Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Tues 16 Mar 2021
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