Brussels has rejected UK government claims that an “initial communication problem” meant that Britain missed out on participating in the joint procurement of ventilators, insisting that the UK was fully briefed on the plans. Prime minister Boris Johnson’s government is under pressure over its decision to stay outside several EU-wide tenders for vital medical equipment at a time when Britain is desperately trying to add to its supply of ventilators to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.
On Thursday, a UK government spokesman blamed the situation on a misunderstanding with Brussels, saying that Britain “did not receive an invitation in time to join in”. But Brussels rubbished that claim on Friday, saying the plans – which were publicly announced weeks ago – had been clearly set out to Britain and other governments. A spokesman for the European Commission said: “The member states’ needs for personal protective equipment have been discussed several times in the meetings of the Health Security Committee, where the UK participated.”
“At these meetings, the commission stressed its readiness to further support countries with the procurement of medical countermeasures if needed; so member states and the UK had the opportunity to signal their interest to participate in any joint procurements.” The EU spokesman said that Brussels also maintained an “early warning response system” to help countries signal procurement needs.
British references to communication problems have left officials in Brussels perplexed. The joint procurement plans have been publicly highlighted by commission president Ursula von der Leyen and other senior Brussels officials in recent weeks to show how the bloc is helping countries to fight the crisis. Brussels says that the centralized process has the advantage of driving down the cost of procurement through bulk orders. It also