The EU Commission approved a Joint Procurement Agreement “which will enable all EU countries to procure pandemic vaccines and other medical countermeasures as a group, rather than individually.” The approach is intended “to ensure that pandemic vaccines and medicines are available in sufficient quantities and at a correct price should a cross border health threat emerge. The mechanism will benefit all EU countries, in particular the ones which encountered difficulties in purchasing vaccines developed for the H1N1 pandemic in 2009. 27 EU countries have declared their intention to sign the Agreement. The Joint Procurement Agreement is voluntary, and will enter into force two weeks after it has been signed by a third of participating Member States (10 countries) and the Commission.”
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-418_en.htm