EU vaccine export row: Bloc backtracks on controls for NI

The EU has reversed its decision to temporarily override part of the Brexit deal amid an ongoing row over Covid vaccine supplies in the bloc.

The move could have seen checks at the border of Ireland and Northern Ireland to prevent shipments entering the UK.

The Brussels U-turn came hours after it was announced, following condemnation from London, Dublin and Belfast.

The plans had been part of the EU’s new export controls on vaccines, to combat delivery shortfalls.

It is the latest development in a deepening dispute over delays to the production and distribution of Covid vaccines across the EU.

What’s the problem with the EU’s vaccine programme?
WHO criticises EU over vaccine export controls
NI reacts to EU vaccine export ‘mess’
The Brexit deal guarantees an open border between the EU and Northern Ireland, with no controls on exported products.

However, Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol part of the deal allows the EU and UK to choose to suspend any aspects they consider are causing “economic, societal or environmental difficulties”.

On Friday evening the EU announced it would trigger the clause and introduce the export controls on its vaccines entering Northern Ireland in a bid to prevent the region becoming a backdoor for jabs to be sent to the UK mainland.

It said the actions were “justified” to avert problems caused by a lack of supply.

But the proposals sparked concern from all five parties in Northern Ireland’s devolved government and Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin.

Later on Friday evening, following talks with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted that the UK and EU had “agreed on the principle that there should not be restrictions on the export of vaccines by companies where they are fulfilling contractual responsibilities”.

She said the backtrack, which was outlined in a European Commission statement, came after “constructive talks” with Mr Johnson in which he had expressed “grave concerns” about the initial plan.

The BBC’s Brussels correspondent, Kevin Connelly, said Ms von der Leyen’s midnight tweet seemed to “wind down” the idea that there could be a “vaccine war” where jab supplies are prevented from reaching the UK.

‘Trumpian act’
Julian Smith, Conservative MP and former Northern Ireland secretary, said the EU had “pulled the emergency cord” without following the proper processes that had been agreed over years of negotiations.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the move came “without anywhere near the level of understanding of the Good Friday Agreement, of the sensitivities of the situation in Northern Ireland”.

“It was an almost Trumpian act — I’m very pleased that they’ve changed their minds,” he said, adding that the EU’s “major issue” with its Covid vaccine rollout “does not excuse” their actions.

BBC business correspondent Katie Prescott said firms in Northern Ireland were stunned that the European Commission could trigger a change that was only meant for the “most egregious circumstances” — just one month after the UK’s post-Brexit transition period with the EU ended.

“Mistake,” “misjudgement,” “blunder.”

These are just some of words EU insiders have been using privately to describe the European Commission’s initial decision on Friday to suspend areas of the Brexit deal dealing with Northern Ireland, a part of its Covid vaccine row.

Although it then U-turned on those plans, critics say the damage was already done.

Brussels previously lectured the UK government about respecting the Irish Protocol — which was painfully and carefully drafted during Brexit negotiations.

Now the EU seemed quick to undermine the agreement.

Member state Ireland felt stung that it hadn’t been consulted. This all adds to the impression of chaos surrounding the EU’s vaccine rollout.

Brussels was already under fire from a growing number of EU countries for having been slow to sign vaccine contracts with pharmaceutical companies.

This “mishap” over the Irish Protocol, as Spain’s Foreign Minister called it, hasn’t exactly helped the commission’s reputation.

Mr Martin welcomed the EU’s reversal, describing it as a “positive development given the many challenges we face in tackling Covid-19”.

It was not thought that the move would have directly disadvantaged Northern Ireland, which gets its vaccine supplies through the UK procurement system.

Despite later backtracking on Article 16, the EU is still introducing new controls giving its member states the power — should they want to — to block exports of the coronavirus vaccine to countries including the UK, if the company making them has not honoured existing contracts with the EU.

The European Commission said the temporary mechanism is to combat “the current lack of transparency” over vaccine exports outside the EU, and is not an export ban.

But the World Health Organization is among those criticising the move, saying “vaccine nationalism” could prolong the pandemic and further widen global inequality.

https://kukukurucut.cookpad-blog.jp/articles/567166
http://www.4mark.net/story/3143168/full-watch-!-attack-on-titan-season-4-episode-8-2021-online-full-episodes-series-hd-digg
https://vasvava39f.substack.com/p/veqvwebweb
https://www.mydigoo.com/forums-topicdetail-223599.html
https://blog.goo.ne.jp/bukurburas/e/1072cc1c205649cb9f4fd67b22385e5f
http://www.clashofclans-tools.com/Thread-41052/khkvashkvhakhvkav
https://note.com/kuku12/n/ne46d77aad363
http://www.easymarks.org/link/187032/attack-on-titan-season-4-episode-8
http://beterhbo.ning.com/profiles/blogs/vkavhaababwe
http://korsika.ning.com/profiles/blogs/vbkanvnwebweb
https://www.peeranswer.com/question/60151d8ab7adfd816568de64
http://millionairex3.ning.com/profiles/blogs/vkenanvwbweb
http://network-marketing.ning.com/profiles/blogs/vavwejewjwhbwbwbw
https://webhitlist.com/forum/topics/kjvjhavweb
http://officialguccimane.ning.com/photo/albums/hheahwbwbr
http://www.onfeetnation.com/profiles/blogs/vnjkanvbwebwe
https://caribbeanfever.com/photo/albums/webwbwbwebwwe
https://dcm.shivtr.com/forum_threads/3298842
http://recampus.ning.com/profiles/blogs/vnnabavbnavav
http://notes.io/N14j
https://paiza.io/projects/QADCEwJL8rGs3LCcUMipAw?language=bash
https://onlinegdb.com/nVo43EJBx
https://ideone.com/ciis1X
https://jsfiddle.net/korong/sw3foL8q/
http://paste.jp/50e68858/
https://pastelink.net/2le20
https://paste.toolforge.org/view/068292c6

How many people have had the jab so far?
Coronavirus: A year of high-speed discovery
Single-dose Johnson & Johnson jab is 66% effective
Last summer the EU agreed to buy up to 400m doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, and on Friday the EU’s drugs regulator approved the vaccine’s use for all adults.

But the firm said that due to problems at one of its EU factories, supplies would be reduced by about 60% in the first quarter of 2021.

The EU’s move to trigger Article 16 was criticised by a string of politicians, with Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster describing it as “an absolutely incredible act of hostility” that places a “hard border” between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

She told the Today programme the debacle highlighted the EU’s “vaccine embarrassment and mismanagement”.

The Irish government and its diplomats have spent a huge amount of time and energy educating their EU partners on the nuances of the Irish border.

During the Brexit negotiations there was a slick operation where visiting dignitaries and camera crews were whisked up the road from Dublin airport to see the border in County Louth.

This paid dividends for Ireland: its concerns remained top of the EU’s priorities during the negotiations.

Some of the European Commission’s most talented officials were deeply involved in the Irish elements of the Brexit deals.

But something clearly went badly awry on Friday.

https://kirayagamishinji.medium.com/coronavirus-eu-confirms-new-vaccine-export-controls-c22850f5d855
https://www.guest-articles.com/news/coronavirus-eu-confirms-new-vaccine-export-controls-30-01-2021
https://www.thewyco.com/news/eu-confirms-new-vaccine-export-controls-30-01-2021
https://www.atoallinks.com/2021/coronavirus-eu-confirms-new-vaccine-export-controls/
https://telegra.ph/Coronavirus-EU-confirms-new-vaccine-export-controls-01-30
https://minimore.com/b/oVgOP/1
https://kukukurucut.cookpad-blog.jp/articles/567166
https://steemit.com/news/@kucaynews/coronavirus-eu-confirms-new-vaccine-export-controls

The use of the Article 16 mechanism, to override part of the Brexit deal, caught the Irish government by surprise.

Those Commission officials with special knowledge of Ireland were either not consulted or not listened to.

Dick Roche, Ireland’s former Europe minister, told the BBC the government had been “blindsided” and “embarrassed”.

He said the Taoiseach had been “very annoyed” and made “very strong representation” to urge the Commission to change its mind.

Ireland’s Foreign Minister Simon Coveney welcomed the EU’s reversal, but said “lessons should be learned”.

“The [Northern Ireland] Protocol is not something to be tampered with lightly, it’s an essential, hard-won compromise, protecting peace and trade for many,” he tweeted.

The European Union has been criticised for the slow pace of coronavirus vaccinations in member states.

It has introduced export controls on vaccines produced in the EU after the roll-out was hit by delays and supply problems.

How does the EU vaccine scheme work?
The scheme, set up in June 2020, allows the EU to negotiate the purchase of vaccines on behalf of its member states. It says this can help reduce costs and avoid competition between them.

Member states do not have to join the scheme, but all 27 EU countries chose to do so.

EU countries are still allowed to make separate deals with vaccine makers which are not negotiating with the EU. Hungary has agreed to buy two million doses of the Russian Sputnik-V vaccine.

What is the row over the AstraZeneca vaccine?
The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was approved for use in the EU on 29 January.

The EU signed a deal for 300 million doses in August, while the UK ordered 100 million doses and signed its deal in May.

But supply problems have been announced by AstraZeneca, which blamed manufacturing problems on one plant in Belgium and another in the Netherlands.

This prompted criticism from the EU when it learned it would receive fewer doses. It says it should not receive fewer doses just because the UK signed a contract earlier and said AstraZeneca’s UK plants “had to deliver”.

https://dunandkonflik.medium.com/the-eu-has-reversed-its-decision-to-temporarily-override-part-of-the-brexit-deal-amid-an-ongoing-1ca6730ceb7c

https://www.guest-articles.com/news/eu-vaccine-export-row-bloc-backtracks-on-controls-for-ni-30-01-2021

https://www.thewyco.com/news/eu-vaccine-export-row-bloc-backtracks-on-controls-for-ni-30-01-2021

Officials have not confirmed publicly how big the shortfall will be. But an unnamed EU official told Reuters news agency deliveries would be reduced to 31 million — a cut of 60% — in the first quarter of 2021.

AstraZeneca said the fact that EU contracts were signed later left less time to resolve production problems. It said the UK had signed contracts three months earlier, giving more time to fix problems.

It said its agreement with the EU allowed the option of supplying Europe from UK sites, but only once the UK had sufficient supplies. “As soon as we can, we’ll help the EU,” chief executive Pascal Soriot said.

UK government minister Michael Gove said there would be “no interruption” to UK supplies, which had been “planned, paid for and scheduled”.

Because of the supply problems, the EU announced on 29 January that it was introducing export controls on vaccines made in the bloc.

It said it would apply these to vaccines moving between the Republic of Ireland (which is in the EU) and Northern Ireland. This would have involved overriding part of the Brexit deal for Northern Ireland but the EU has now reversed this decision.

Blog Post

EU vaccine export row: Bloc backtracks on controls for NI

smadavau