BERLIN: The European Union’s problems with getting deliveries of coronavirus vaccines have underscored the need for the bloc to redouble its efforts to produce its own doses, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday.
Speaking to Parliament ahead of an EU summit, Merkel acknowledged that the vaccination rollout in Germany has not gone as quickly as hoped.
She said it was more about how many had been delivered hence rejecting criticism that not enough shots had been ordered.
“We can see clearly that British facilities are producing for Great Britain. The United States isn’t exporting, and therefore we are dependent upon what can be produced in Europe,” Merkel said.
At the summit, Germany’s Chancellor said European leaders planned to talk about how the bloc can ensure a steadier vaccine supply for the future.
She has previously urged the EU to be “very careful” with vaccine export bans. She said she supports efforts by the bloc’s executive Commission to ensure that vaccine contracts are fulfilled, citing the supply problems the EU has had with the AstraZeneca shot.
She told Parliament that in addition to ensuring its own supply, the EU must work with other vaccine-producing countries to ensure there’s enough vaccines available for everyone around the world who needs it.
“If we do not succeed with that, we will be confronted again and again with mutations, which raise the possible risk that the vaccines are no longer effective,” she said.
Germany has registered more than 75,000 deaths since the outbreak of the pandemic. The country’s disease control center reported 22,657 new confirmed daily cases Thursday, up from 17,504 new daily cases a week ago.
“We are in the third wave, and again seeing exponential growth,” Merkel cautioned.
Merkel and state governors earlier this week agreed on a new framework to try and slow the spread of the virus, though she backed down from a planned 5-day shutdown over Easter.
Restaurants, bars and many leisure facilities remain closed. A plan drawn up earlier this month to allow limited reopenings — of shops, for example — features an “emergency brake” under which regions are supposed to re-impose restrictions when the number of weekly infections exceeds 100 per 100,000 residents on three consecutive days.
Germany is currently recording 113.3 weekly new cases per 100,000 residents nationwide, with wide regional variations.
Merkel urged Germans to get vaccinated as soon as they can and to use the coronavirus tests being provided as a “bridge” to help slow the spread of the virus until enough people have been vaccinated.
“The more that we test, the less we must restrict,” she said.
She said with the vaccines and the increased tests, a “light at the end of the tunnel is visible” and urged Germans to be as positive as possible.
Germany’s Merkel: EU needs to increase vaccine production
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Germany’s Merkel: EU needs to increase vaccine production
Britain needs ‘AI stress tests’ for financial services, lawmakers say
- Lawmakers urge AI-specific stress tests for financial firms
LONDON: Britain’s financial watchdogs are not doing enough to stop artificial intelligence from harming consumers or destabilising markets, a cross-party group of lawmakers said on Tuesday, urging regulators to move away from what it called a “wait and see” approach.
In a report on AI in financial services, the Treasury Committee said the Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England should start running AI-specific stress tests to help firms prepare for market shocks triggered by automated systems.
The committee also called on the FCA to publish detailed guidance by the end of 2026 on how consumer protection rules apply to AI, and on the extent to which senior managers should be expected to understand the systems they oversee.
“Based on the evidence I’ve seen, I do not feel confident that our financial system is prepared if there was a major AI-related incident and that is worrying,” committee chair Meg Hillier said in a statement.
TECHNOLOGY CARRIES ‘SIGNIFICANT RISKS’
A race among banks to adopt agentic AI, which unlike generative AI can make decisions and take autonomous action, runs new risks for retail customers, the FCA told Reuters late last year.
About three-quarters of UK financial firms now use AI. Companies are deploying the technology across core functions, from processing insurance claims to performing credit assessments.
While the report acknowledged the benefits of AI, it warned the technology also carried “significant risks” including opaque credit decisions, the potential exclusion of vulnerable consumers through algorithmic tailoring, fraud, and the spread of unregulated financial advice through AI chatbots.
Experts contributing to the report also highlighted threats to financial stability, pointing to the reliance on a small group of US tech giants for AI and cloud services. Some also noted that AI-driven trading systems may amplify herding behavior in markets, risking a financial crisis in a worst-case scenario.
An FCA spokesperson said the regulator welcomed the focus on AI and would review the report. The regulator has previously indicated it does not favor AI-specific rules due to the pace of technological change.
The BoE did not respond to a request for comment.
Hillier told Reuters that increasingly sophisticated forms of generative AI were influencing financial decisions. “If something has gone wrong in the system, that could have a very big impact on the consumer,” she said.
Separately, Britain’s finance ministry appointed Starling Bank CIO Harriet Rees and Lloyds Banking Group ‘s Rohit Dhawan as “AI Champions” to help steer AI adoption in financial services.
