As COVID restrictions ease as vaccine rollouts intensify across industrialised Western democracies, the IIEA’s YPN gathers an expert panel to consider whether Europe is doing enough to support equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccines. While EU states, as a bloc, are the largest exporters of vaccines in the world, they did vote against a measure through the WTO to temporarily waive intellectual property rights for pharmaceutical companies in an effort to boost global production. With the European Parliament voting in favour of supporting that measure, and the Biden Administration also declaring its support for the TRIPS waiver, will EU leaders shift position?

About the Speakers:

Manon Aubry has been an MEP representing La France Insoumise since May 2019. She currently serves as Co-Leader of the European United Left–Nordic Green Left Group in the European Parliament and is a member of the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee and its Subcommittee on Tax Matters. Previously, Manon worked with Oxfam France as Senior Advocacy Officer focusing on tax injustice and inequality. She also lectured in Human Rights at Sciences Po.

Jim Clarken is the CEO of Oxfam Ireland and an Executive Director of Oxfam International. He has shared public platforms with thought leaders, academics and senior politicians at the UN, OECD, EU and other key global fora on a range of issues including inequality, climate change, business and human rights, tax justice and refugee rights and the SDGs. He has been a founding member of the People’s Vaccine Alliance Ireland, Stop Climate Chaos and the Irish Coalition for Business and Human Right and the Irish Refugee and Migrant Coalition and is a former chair of Dóchas. He is Ajunct Professor at the School of Business and Law at UCC, a board member of Cork University Business School and a regular contributor to several University programmes. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from NUI Galway and an MBA from UCC.