European Parliament digs in on demand that EU support TRIPS waiver

The European Parliament is set to adopt a resolution tomorrow on its priorities for MC12 in which it will call for the EU to “support the granting of a temporary waiver from certain provisions of the TRIPS agreement for COVID-19”.
The amendment on the waiver, which was put forward by the Greens group and adopted narrowly during this afternoon’s plenary session by just five votes, will be confirmed tomorrow in a further vote on the report as awhole. Such votes are usually a formality.
This is the latest in a series of parliament votes where the institution has supported such a waiver and therefore set itself up in opposition to the European Commission which prefers to prioritise voluntary and compulsory licencing. The Parliament’s resolution goes on to warn that the WTO “is at risk of losing legitimacy if not all members commit to a successful outcome of MC12”.
It asks that WTO members find “as a minimum, a multilateral agreement on prohibiting unsustainable fisheries subsidies, as well as on pandemic response, a limited package on agriculture, and on launching work towards institutional reform, including a process that would lead to a fully functioning dispute settlement system by MC13 at the latest”.
“Without substantial outcomes at MC12,” the report states, “some members might look for alternative forums for rule-making, which might jeopardise the future of the multilateral trading system”. [...]
“The @EP_Trade resolution is very balanced and I call upon everyone to support it,” tweeted the Chair of the Parliament’s International Trade Committee and Joint Rapporteur for this resolution Bernd Lange. “WTO needs our support!”