Jan Grumiller The pandemic and accompanying restrictions on international trade have demonstrated the vulnerability of global supply chains. Particularly in the case of critical goods—medical and pharmaceutical products—global production networks (GPNs) have lacked resilience and security of supply was threatened. The impact within the European Union differed by sector and product. In particular, previously well-functioning supply chains for medical products relevant to the pandemic response—such as medical gloves, face masks and respirators—suffered bottlenecks due to demand surges and lockdowns in the EU, the United States and elsewhere. By contrast, shortages of pharmaceutical products in the EU were limited. Yet short-lived export restrictions imposed by India on some critical medicines and intermediates, as well as production losses due to lockdowns in China, once again demonstrated the potential threats to pharmaceutical GPNs. This directed public attention to the rising supply shortages in the last two decades for various pharmaceutical products.