The European Union has rowed back on plans to trigger an article of the Brexit deal which would stop the flow of vaccines through Northern Ireland to the rest of the UK. Boris Johnson expressed his ‘grave concerns’ after the EU was said to be placing a ‘hard border’ in the region, after spending years telling Britain such a thing should never happen.
The EU is expected to perform a U-turn amid escalating tensions with the UK (Picture: Reuters/REX)
Stormont’s First Minister Arlene Foster called it an ‘incredible act of hostility’ and Irish premier Micheal Martin was straight on the phone to European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen to express his opposition. Earlier today the bloc implemented a restriction on the export of vaccines, with the UK notably of the list of exempted countries.
The EU says this is to safeguard supplies, but it has been accused of trying to cover up for its own failures in rolling out a jab by blaming anyone else, including Britain and vaccine maker AstraZeneca. This evening the EU was reported to have enacted controls to stop Northern Ireland being used as a back door to funnel vaccines to the rest of the UK. But in an unexpected change in direction, Brussels suggested they never actually imposed it after all.
First Minister Arlene Foster called the EU’s move an ‘incredible act of hostility’ (Picture: PA)
In a statement at around 11pm, the European Commission said: ‘To tackle the current lack of transparency of vaccine exports outside the EU, the Commission is putting in place a measure requiring that such exports are subject to an authorisation by Member States. ‘In the process of finalisation of this measure, the Commission will ensure that the Ireland / Northern Ireland Protocol is unaffected. The Commission is not triggering the safeguard clause. ‘Should transits of vaccines and active substances toward third countries be abused to circumvent the effects of the authorisation system, the EU will consider using all the instruments at its disposal. ‘In the process of finalising the document, the commission will also be fine-tuning the decision-making process under the implementing regulation.’
To add to the confusion, Spanish foreign minister Arancha Gonzalez-Laya said the triggering of Article 16 was done by ‘accident’. She told BBC Newsnight: ‘I understand, and this is what I hear from the European Commission, that there was an accident. ‘The accident or the mishap has been repaired and I think that is important.’ She insisted the EU’s wider move to control exports of vaccines was ‘not a hostile act against third countries’. She added: ‘This is the mechanism of transparency that the EU needs that a particular pharmaceutical company today honours its commitment, as simple as that.’
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has faced widespread condemnation for the proposed vaccine block (Picture: TNS)
Brussels was left fuming after vaccine maker AstraZeneca warned there would be a 60% shortfall of supplies, leaving the bloc around 75million doses short. The European Commission suspects the Cambridge-based pharmaceutical giant, has given preferential treatment to Britain, and even sent inspectors to pay a surprise visit to the firm’s plant in Belgium to see if there really was a problem. AstraZeneca CEO, Pascal Soriot, insisted it had also had ‘teething issues’ with Britain’s supply – but because UK officials signed its contract three months earlier than the bloc, the disruption was fixed ahead of the EU. The EU has demanded the UK hand over some of its own jabs to make up for the shortfall, but Downing Street has refused to bow to this pressure.
