THREE major players in Europe find their heads on the block today over their disastrous Covid jab roll-out.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron are under fire over the painfully slow progress.
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And European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen faces huge pressure after her bungled attempt to impose a hard vaccine border on the island of Ireland.
It comes as Eurosceptics in the UK predicted the ultimate destruction of the EU within the next few years.
Tory MP Peter Bone last night said: “The EU has long-term problems partly due to its its undemocratic nature.
“It’s clear that they are not serving the nations.
“It’s breakdown will depend on Germany and France and what the people in those countries think.
“Will what has happened with the vaccine encourage people not to be in the EU? I think so.
“The organisation is bound to fail in the end because of what it is.
“It’s undemocratic and out of touch.
“This is just a classic case.”
France has delivered only 1.3 million jabs and Germany 2.2 million doses while the UK has vaccinated 8.8 million.
Merkel has summoned the chiefs of her country’s 16 states to discuss the slow progress.
But Bavarian Premier Markus Söder, head of the Christian Social Union, sister party of Merkel’s Christian Democratics, blamed Brussels.
He said: “The situation is more than unsatisfactory. Operational responsibility lay in Europe.
“The fundamental importance of this situation has been completely underestimated.”
The fiasco could have a knock-on effect for governments in national elections.
Polls are scheduled to take place in Holland and Bulgaria in March.
The German general election is in September and the French Presidential election will be held in April next year.
In France, Macron — who falsely said the AstraZeneca vaccine was ineffective for people over 65 — was lashed by his country’s oldest daily national newspaper.
Le Figaro, founded in 1826, ran with the headline: “Vaccination: Brexit 1, Brussels 0”.
The story underneath warned of “geopolitical” consequences.
It added: “Unfortunately, the doses are arriving in drops in Europe since other countries of the world have better locked in their supply.
“Our only way out of the health crisis is thus several months away.”
And German newspaper Bild also lashed the EU.
Columnist Peter Tiede claimed the contract signed with AstraZeneca was “a declaration of bankruptcy for Brussels, an indictment of the 27 member states. An insult to Europe and all of us”.
Mr Bone added: “It always struck me when we left the EU that people in the nation states who have always wanted to leave, will see what we are doing and be encouraged.
“I didn’t think it would happen quite so quickly.”
Boris Johnson held late-night talks with von der Leyen on Friday to seek clarification on the Irish border issue.
Ex-Brexit Minister David Jones said the German ex-Defence Minister has a poor track record — including sending troops on an exercise with broomsticks.
He said: “The buck stops with her.
“She has handled it extraordinarily badly, she could have tempered the hot-headed who wanted to trigger Article 16.
