EU Countries Divided Over European Commission’s Role in the Pandemic Treaty Negotiations, Disagreement On Technology Transfer

Newsletter Edition #121 [Treaty Talks]

Hi,

WHO member states meet next week to conclude the negotiations towards a new Pandemic Agreement, even as the organization itself has been caught up in a maelstrom of a financial crisis that is gaining pace to shake the fundamentals how global health is administered.

We have been chronicling these negotiations for over three years, and there is no guarantee that negotiators would succeed even at this stage. Though close, the possibility that countries do not reach consensus cannot be fully ruled out.

In today’s story, we bring you an update on the mood in Brussels where some countries and stakeholders are making efforts in order to push the negotiations closer to consensus in Geneva. Whether they will succeed will become amply clear in the days to come.

Thank you for reading.

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Until later!

Priti

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Illustration Credit: Amy Clarke, Chembe Collaborative

I. PANDEMIC TREATY TALKS UPDATE

EU Countries Divided Over European Commission’s Role in the Pandemic Treaty Negotiations, Disagreement On Technology Transfer

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There are rumblings among some European Union member states on the role of the European Commission in the negotiations on the Pandemic Agreement, particularly on the obligations on technology transfer, sources familiar with the dynamics told Geneva Health Files.

“Not all countries are happy with the positions taken by the European Commission, especially when it comes to technology transfer provisions in the draft Pandemic Treaty,” a source familiar with the discussions in Brussels said.

Following the cessation of American participation in these negotiations after Donald Trump’s order in January 2025, the EU has become even more influential in these discussions. The bloc was the prime demandeur for such a treaty in 2021.

To be sure, the European Commission was authorised in 2022 to negotiate the Pandemic Agreement on behalf of EU member states in accordance with specific directives.

However, over the last three years, there have been indications that some EU countries have not been happy with the positions taken by the Commission that has often tended to move towards the interests of the strongest economies in the bloc, sources say. In this negotiations at WHO, the EU has spoken with one voice, represented by the Commission, but behind-the-scenes, not all countries are aligned.

Now at the final stage of the negotiations, these differences are now becoming sharper, especially as time runs out and the distance to consensus, sources say. Many EU countries are keen to conclude the negotiations and reach an agreement.

The technology transfer obligations (Article 11), one of the stickiest in these negotiations , has had WHO member states divided over framing the language on whether this provision needs to spell out voluntary approaches.

Technology transfer – the process of sharing intellectual property (IP), know-how, and technology to enable the production and dissemination of essential medical products, including vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics, is critical in ensuring equitable access to life-saving interventions, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Developing country diplomats say that without meaningful technology transfer, there will be no effective diversification of production, and that in turn will have an impact on supplies, and subsequently, procurement during health emergencies and pandemics.

The provision on technology transfer (article 11) in the draft Pandemic Agreement, has a number of elements seeking obligations on promoting, incentivizing technology transfer; on licensing, capacity building; on government owned and state funded technologies; on royalties; and reaffirming existing language on protecting policy space, among others. The provision remains undecided on the nature of technology-sharing commitments, on manufacturing know-how, and “time-bound measures” (read waivers) on encouraging manufacturing during pandemic emergencies.

A few developed countries including Germany, Canada, Japan, Switzerland among others have pushed for language on voluntary approaches in the course of these negotiations.

Image Credit: Photo by Rodrigo Duarte, Pexels