The image of the EU as bureaucratic is of course British standard fayre, Die Welt acknowledged. I think the problem was less this but rather being penny-pinching, and too risk averse leading to being slow to order. The British took a risk by emergency authorisation, the question remains whether the EU or individual member states should have done the same thing in view of the infection rate. I also wonder if the process of authorisation was unnecessarily slow, but there needs to be actual evidence of this, not prejudice.
The Die Welt article the Guardian linked to was rightly critical of von der Leyen. It also referenced Boris Johnson posing as a statesman waxing lyrical about the wonders that can be achieved by international cooperation and working together. I found this beyond irony.
The comments section was absolutely scathing about von der Leyen, and her competence in particular.
The really odd thing is is that she is anglophile.
Talking of empathy, I saw some footage on the news from a British hospital, and suddenly and unexpectedly found myself very moved, I found myself thinking it shouldn't be like this. It's not always so different elsewhere, but it's home and the tragedy of the infection rate, the numbers of ill people, the strain on the staff and death toll just hit home.
I'm not sure hopes have been dashed on the continent, more delayed, but I for one feel very narked that all the massive effort to get the infection rate down and try to help the economy has been lightly thrown away by von der Leyen and/or others responsible. I'm not sure how much better the supply situation would have been had the EU acted more quickly, over 3 months 'late' ordering is a long time, but it's galling to think that better progress really could have been made by now.
