Hello, I'm Paige and this is the Eurointelligence podcast covering current affairs in the EU and Eurozone.

I'm joined by Wolfgang and Susanna, directors of Eurointelligence in Oxford.

Guys, I don't want to open another podcast with vaccines, but unfortunately must.

Back in the news this week and the EU had a really bad time with it, Wolfgang, you were writing about it this morning.

Where did it all go so wrong? I have not only bad time with it. Wolfgang, you were writing about it this morning. Where did it all go so wrong?

I have not only been writing about it this morning. It seems like, you know, Groundhog Day.

I never thought I'd be writing so much about vaccines. It's basically gone wrong because

a number of things. I mean, you can't just pin it down to one moment, like, you know, someone made a mistake in the vaccine procurement thing, you know, that surely

happened. But the bigger thing is that we are undergoing a process of coordination, both in

countries and in the EU level, for which we are simply not prepared. The EU, as we've been saying

before, it's very good at the things that it runs. saying before, it's very good at the things it runs.

You know, it's very good at running the competition policy, the trade policy. It's very

competent. But what has gone wrong in the EU generally in the last 20 years is when there

are policy areas from the economic policy now to health policies, but many other policy areas are also refugees and

third country diplomatic relations, where we have to coordinate.

And there's an EU level and a national level.

That's where generally the EU is failing.

And the weeks really started with the same thing happening inside Germany, where the policy is the same thing,

is a microcosm, where the policy is a coordination between the chancellor and the state

premiers, the minister president. And Merkel did with them the same that she does with the European

Council having late-night meetings, and they took a decision of three in the morning to close down the

country to lock down the country over eastern including food shops okay it was only a day it was

...