BRUSSELS - The European Union is willing to discuss a proposal, now backed by the United States, to waive intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday.
"The EU is also ready to discuss any proposals that addresses the crisis in an effective and pragmatic manner," she said in a speech to the European University Institute in Florence.
"That's why we are ready to discuss how the U.S. proposal for a waiver on intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines could help achieve that objective."
(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop and Sabine Siebold; Editing by Alex Richardson)