Medicine Shortages – a Security Question?
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Master thesis (CPOLO1008E) Medicine shortages – a security question? A securitization analysis of the medicines supply chain dependencies of the European Union in the context of COVID-19 By Jens Henning Breivik ½ Student no. 93300 Supervised by Kristian Nielsen ½ 15 September 2020 MSc in International Business and Politics ½ Copenhagen Business School STU: 183,730 ½ PAGES: 80 Abstract Medicine shortages have increased exponentially in the European Union for more than a decade. Although most admit the causes are multifaceted, a consensus has developed contending that dependency on third countries, particularly China, in the production of raw and intermediate materials for medicines remains a central reason. This paper hypothesizes that the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in Europe, which highlighted the issue, has led to a change in the debate on third country dependency in this area. This study follows a narrative structure and investigates how the issue increasingly has been related to a question of security through Foucault’s approach to discourse analysis among actors in the European Union. It utilizes the securitization framework – known as the Copenhagen School – in its review of the discourse both before and after the outbreak in Europe. The analysis, which revisits data from the early 2000s until mid-July 2020, shows that the issue indeed has been sought securitized from different actors also before the coronavirus pandemic, but that it struggled to obtain security status in this period. Although developments took place already before the outbreak, the analysis confirms that substantial advancements in the discourse have happened since the virus’ outbreak in Europe. The paper concludes that the issue has been securitized successfully in an EU context, as the European Commission has adopted several measures to address third country dependence within the medicines supply chain. Keywords: medicine shortages; COVID-19; China; EU; Copenhagen School; securitization; discourse analysis. Table of contents 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................. 1 2. BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................................................... 3 2.1. AN INDUSTRY UNLIKE ANY OTHER ..................................................................................................................... 3 2.2. PHARMACEUTICALS FROM A LIBERAL PERSPECTIVE ............................................................................................... 3 2.3. THE LIFE-CYCLE OF PHARMACEUTICALS .............................................................................................................. 4 3. THEORY ............................................................................................................................................................... 6 3.1. TRADITIONAL SECURITY THEORY ....................................................................................................................... 6 3.2. INTRODUCING SECURITIZATION THEORY ............................................................................................................. 7 3.3. ROLES AND CIRCUMSTANCES IN A SECURITIZATION PROCESS .................................................................................. 8 3.4. STAGES OF A SECURITIZATION PROCESS ............................................................................................................ 11 4. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................................................... 13 4.1. RESEARCH PHILOSOPHY ................................................................................................................................ 13 Ontology ............................................................................................................................................ 14 Axiology ............................................................................................................................................. 15 Epistemology ..................................................................................................................................... 15 4.2. METHODS .................................................................................................................................................. 17 Discourse Analysis ............................................................................................................................. 17 Narrative structures ........................................................................................................................... 19 4.3. DATA ........................................................................................................................................................ 20 Data collection process ...................................................................................................................... 20 Data types .......................................................................................................................................... 22 4.4. LIMITATIONS ............................................................................................................................................... 23 4.5. GOAL OF PRESENT ANALYSIS .......................................................................................................................... 25 4.6. OPERATIONALIZATIONS ................................................................................................................................. 25 5. ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................................................................... 27 5.1. DISCOURSE BEFORE THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK ................................................................................................ 27 Competing interests in the early beginnings ..................................................................................... 27 Addressing Securitizing Actors and Interests .................................................................................... 34 Evolvement in discourse and changing power relations ................................................................... 37 Making sense of the discourse Before the COVID-19 outbreak ........................................................ 40 5.2. DISCOURSE SINCE THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK .................................................................................................. 40 Immediate threats and short-term actions ....................................................................................... 41 Structural issues and long-term actions ............................................................................................ 46 Securitizing moves ............................................................................................................................. 47 Competing priorities in the European Parliament ............................................................................ 49 Intra-European dynamics .................................................................................................................. 53 The Commission’s adjusted position ................................................................................................. 57 6. CONCLUSION AND FURTHER PERSPECTIVES ................................................................................................... 60 6.1. CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................................. 60 6.2. IMPLICATIONS FOR INTERUNIT RELATIONS ........................................................................................................ 62 6.3. WERE THERE OTHER, MORE SUITABLE WAYS? ................................................................................................... 64 6.4. WILL IT LAST? ............................................................................................................................................. 65 7. BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................................................. 67 List of Tables and Figures Table 1. Data gathering January 2020 - 15 July 2020 …………………………………………………………………. 22 List of Abbreviations API Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients CPME Standing Committee of European Doctors DG Directorate-General DG GROW Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry DG SANCO Directorate-General for Health and Consumer Protection (until 2014) DG SANTE Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (since 2014) EAHP European Association of Hospital Pharmacists EC; the Commission European Commission ECDC European Center for Disease Prevention and Control ECR European Conservatives and Reformists Group EFCG European Fine Chemical Group EFPIA European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations EIPG European Industrial Pharmacists Group EMA European Medicines Agency ENVI European Parliament Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee EP; the Parliament European Parliament EPHA European Public Health Alliance EPP European People's Party EU European Union EU European Union EUGS EU’s Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy EUHA European University