Arlene Foster: EU limit on vaccines into Northern Ireland is 'hostile and aggressive'

Shock and anger at EU's move to invoke Brexit clause on Irish border

 

Triggering of article 16 an ‘extraordinary misjudgement’ that ‘came out of the blue’

 

Lisa O'Carroll Brexit correspondent

@lisaocarroll

Fri 29 Jan 2021 20.48 GMT

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/jan/29/eu-moves-to-stop-northern-ireland-being-used-as-a-vaccine-backdoor-to-britain

 

The EU’s decision to trigger a Brexit deal clause to place controls on the export of Covid vaccines from the bloc to Northern Ireland has been condemned as dangerous and unwelcome by leaders north and south of the Irish border.

 

A No 10 spokesperson said the UK was “urgently seeking an explanation from the European commission” about the move.

 

“The UK has legally-binding agreements with vaccine suppliers and it would not expect the EU, as a friend and ally, to do anything to disrupt the fulfilment of these contracts,” the spokesperson said, adding that the UK has “reiterated the importance of preserving the benefits of the Belfast/Good Friday agreement”.

 

Ireland’s taoiseach Micheál Martin spoke directly to the European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, on Friday evening to express what sources described as “deep unhappiness” with the triggering of article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol.

 

The article was agreed in the original withdrawal agreement and gives both sides the power to unilaterally introduce checks on goods if not doing so could result in “serious economic, societal or environmental difficulties”.

 

It is designed as a “last resort” but has been used as an emergency brake on the UK government using Northern Ireland as a back door route to secure EU supplies of the covid vaccine in the event of a blockade.

 

The move came amid a deepening row over the allocation of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine after the company announced delays to its EU operations.

 

Irish government sources told reporters the decision was “completely unnecessary” and had “explosive political implications”.

 

Arlene Foster, Stormont’s first minister, branded the decision to use article 16 to stop the unfettered flow of inoculations from the EU into the region an “incredible act of hostility”. She added it was a “despicable” move that would create the hard border on the island of Ireland that the Northern Ireland protocol was designed to prevent.

 

Colum Eastwood, the Social Democratic and Labour party leader, called the move “a grave error”.

 

The European commission said the move was “justified as a safeguard measure pursuant to article 16 of that protocol in order to avert serious societal difficulties due to a lack of supply threatening to disturb the orderly implementation of the vaccination campaigns in the member states”.

 

It is believed the decision was made without consultation with either the UK or Ireland government.

 

This is an extraordinary misjudgement … There was no discussion about this and came like a shot out of the blue

Senior EU source

 

Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, spoke to his counterpart on the UK-EU joint committee charged with implementing Brexit on Friday night, to tell him the government “carefully considering” its next steps.

 

One EU diplomat said they were astounded by the move and hoped it could be revoked within the next 24 hours. “Sometimes the quickest way to recover is to admit your mistakes,” they said.

 

One senior EU diplomatic source said: “This is an extraordinary misjudgement and shows a complete misunderstanding of the protocol and article 16, which is meant to be used as a last resort. There was no discussion about this and came like a shot out of the blue.”

 

They warned that tensions over the Northern Ireland protocol had risen over the past fortnight with traders unhappy with the extent of checks on goods traded across the Irish sea and controversy over the future movement of troops between Great Britain and NI.

 

“Irrespective of what Brexit we got, we knew there were going to be unforeseen consequences and these issues go to the very core of the troubles, sensitivities over identity and sovereignty and instead of the EU taking every effort to tackle the vaccine issue with the British government it has decided to use the Northern Ireland protocol.

 

“To retaliate in this way using the Northern Ireland protocol as a football is very dangerous,” they said.

 

The move immediately added weight to calls by the Westminster representatives of the DUP including Northern Antrim MP Ian Paisley for the UK to invoke Article 16 to pause the protocol over the checks on the Irish sea.

 

Foster called on Boris Johnson to take “robust action” on Friday night including invoking article 16.

 

Louise Haigh, the shadow Northern Ireland secretary, said the EU’s move was “deeply destabilising and undermines the huge efforts being made to make the protocol work”.

 

Foster said: “By triggering article 16 in this manner, the European Union has once again shown it is prepared to use Northern Ireland when it suits their interests but in the most despicable manner – over the provision of a vaccine which is designed to save lives.

 

“At the first opportunity, the EU has placed a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland over the supply chain of the coronavirus vaccine.”