EU nightmare: Chaotic vaccine rollout is ‘best advert’ for Frexit – Brussels on alert

Frexit: Charles-Henri Gallois issues warning to Brussels

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Brexit, which saw the UK finally complete its full departure from the EU on December 31, has seen campaigners from several other countries, particularly France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands, ramp up the pressure on the EU for their own exit. The UK had been locked in an 11-month transition period with the EU last year but has now freed itself from the bloc’s rules around the Customs Union and Single Market. Boris Johnson has basked in the glory of Brexit, boasting how the UK has now “taken back control” and continues to insist the nation will quickly flourish with its new-found powers outside of the EU.

But pressure is now starting to ramp up on French President Emmanuel Macron amid campaigners’ calls for France to hold its own referendum on membership with the EU.

These demands have gathered significant momentum over recent weeks following the EU’s chaotic and rollout of coronavirus vaccines throughout the bloc, which has infuriated several of the remaining 27 member states.

France and Mr Macron’s Government’s have also faced a huge backlash over the rollout of jabs throughout the country, lagging significantly behind other nations, such as the UK, with the number of people vaccinated.

Charles-Henri Gallois, president of the Generation Frexit campaign group in France, said warned the EU’s chaotic vaccine rollout perfectly illustrates why the country must follow the UK and leave the bloc as soon as possible.

He told Express.co.uk: “The EU’s disastrous vaccine rollout is one of the best advertising drivers for Frexit.

“Even some traditional EU supporters have criticised this rollout. The United Kingdom’s Brexit has highlighted with the vaccine rollout that the motto of the EU ‘stronger together’ is totally wrong.

“An independent and flexible country is much more efficient.

“To decide together on each subject is not only anti-democratic but it’s inefficient.

“We need international cooperation, not this supranational EU.”

Mr Gallois continued: “The Covid crisis has really shown that we need our sovereignty back. EU policies are a disaster for France.

“There is of course the vaccine rollout fiasco but it’s not the only thing.

“The European Commission has always put pressure on our health system to reduce costs and has given the green light for relocations and deindustrialisation.

“We have paid a high price for these policies: we were not able to produce masks or medicines and we did not have enough hospital beds to face this crisis.

“The French are each time more aware that we need this sovereignty.

“It won’t happen if we don’t have Frexit as it’s carved in stone in EU treaties.”

Last month, vaccine maker AstraZeneca cut its planned deliveries to the EU in the first quarter of the year to the bloc to 31 million, and later lifted it to 40 million after intense pressure from Brussels.

EU officials had initially been told by the drugmaker that only 80 million doses would be available by the end of March, an EU document seen by Reuters revealed.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was forced to apologise for the vaccine failures in the EU.

She told the European Parliament: “We were late to authorise.

“We were too optimistic when it came to massive production, and perhaps too confident that what we ordered would actually be delivered on time.”

“But she said a joint response was still the best course of action.”

She said: “I can’t even imagine if a few big players had rushed to it and the others went empty-handed.

“In economic terms it would have been nonsense and it would have been I think the end of our community.”

The European Commission President had said a country could act like “a speedboat” with its vaccine rollout, while the “EU is more like a tanker”.

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