Unlike the United States, which plans to open vaccination to its entire population on May 1, Emmanuel Macron said that the European Union was "wrong to lack ambition".
Asked by Nikos Aliagas for Greek television, the President of the Republic compared Europe to a “diesel engine” which “starts slowly” but “goes far”.
According to the Head of State, the EU “has ordered 2.5 billion doses”, enough to become by the second half of the year “the space that will produce the most vaccines in the world”, he said. he adds.
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Asked about the sluggish start of the vaccination campaign, Emmanuel Macron admits not having "thought it would go so quickly.
(...) We were wrong to lack ambition, ”he summed up.
From the Elysee Palace, the President of the Republic has defended the importance of "having a real European vaccination" and "clear rules so that within the European area we can reopen" by the summer with the establishment of a health certificate, currently under discussion at EU level.
Three and a half years after his speech on Europe delivered on the Pnyx hill in Athens, the Head of State indicates that he will formulate "proposals" on the future of Europe "in the second half of the year with a view to of the French Presidency ”of the EU in the first half of 2022.