EU VACCINES WAR EXPLODES
Brussels’ U-turn on ‘shutting’ Irish border as it prepares British jab ban and threatens to seize production...
THE EU was accused of dramatically escalating the ‘vaccine war’ against the UK last night.
In an incendiary move, Brussels rode roughshod over the Brexit agreement to impose controls on the export of jabs to this country, including Northern Ireland.
The move would have effectively created a ‘hard border’ on the island of Ireland despite the EU repeatedly insisting it would never allow one.
The bloc unilaterally invoked emergency powers in the withdrawal deal to stop Northern Ireland being used as a ‘back door’ for the export of jabs into the rest of the UK.
But following an outcry from both Britain and Ireland last night, the EU performed a screeching U-turn and abandoned the bid.
As the vaccine crisis on the Continent spiralled out of control, the bloc publicly rowed with AstraZeneca over its delivery contract, unveiled plans to potentially block millions of jabs from being exported to Britain and was even reported to be considering seizing
control of production sites. Its attempted use of Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol without consulting either London or Dublin provoked fury on both sides of the Irish Sea.
Michael Gove lodged a protest with the vice-president of the European Commission. Downing Street said Boris Johnson was ‘urgently seeking an explanation’.
A No 10 spokesman added: ‘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.’
Mr Johnson and Irish prime minister Micheal Martin both last night held emergency talks with Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to express their concerns. The EU’s actions sparked warnings that it could destabilise the peace process in Northern Ireland, with first minister Arlene Foster accusing the bloc of an ‘incredible act of hostility’.
Labour also condemned the move, with Northern Ireland spokesman Louise Haigh urging Brussels to reverse a ‘deeply destabilising’ decision.
Late last night, the European Commission said it had withdrawn its Article 16 plans. In other developments:
▪ An EU bid to pressure AstraZeneca into diverting vaccine supplies from the UK backfired after lawyers said there was no contractual reason to do so;
▪ European regulators finally gave approval for the firm’s vaccine, a month after it won the green light in the UK;
▪ The Croatian prime minister appeared to accuse the UK of ‘vaccine hijacking’ by ‘offering more money’ for doses;
▪ France’s Emmanuel Macron gave an incendiary interview in which he wrongly claimed the AstraZeneca vaccine was ‘quasi-ineffective’ in older people;
▪ The UK vaccination programme powered ahead, with 15 per cent of adults having now received their dose – roughly seven times the figure in the EU;
▪ A one- shot vaccine from Johnson & Johnson cleared its penultimate hurdle, with the UK in line for 30million doses;
▪ France announced it was closing its borders to non-EU countries except for ‘essential’ travel.
In an interview with The Times, Michel Barnier, who was the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, urged ‘co-operation’ between
Brussels and the UK over the supply of vaccines across Europe.
The envoy said: ‘ We are facing an extraordinarily serious crisis, which is creating a lot of suffering, which is causing a lot of deaths in the UK, in France, in Germany, everywhere. We must face this crisis with responsibility, certainly not with the spirit of one-upmanship or unhealthy competition.
‘I recommend preserving the spirit of co-operation between us.’
Lord Ricketts, a former UK ambassador to France, last night accused Brussels of ‘escalating recklessly in an attempt to get more doses [of the vaccine] from the UK’. He added: ‘The EU is all at sea on this.’
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby tweeted: ‘The European Union was originally inspired by Christian social teaching – at the heart of which is solidarity.
‘Seeking to control the export of vaccines undercuts the EU’s basic ethics. They need to work together with others.’
The bloc yesterday confirmed plans to require vaccine manufacturers to gain approval before exporting batches from the Continent. Dozens of countries were exempted from the measures, including Switzerland. But the UK was included, in a move which could affect supplies here.
The UK is expected to receive 3.5million doses of the Pfizer vaccine from its factory in Belgium. Brussels has been under growing pressure from member states over its sluggish vaccine programme, which has seen inoculations fall far behind the UK.
It was thrown into a tailspin this week after AstraZeneca warned production problems in Belgium meant supplies would be cut by two thirds in the first quarter of the year.
THE EU’s mask slipped yesterday, exposing a very ugly face. What we saw was not just sclerotic incompetence, but malevolence.
The bloc – smarting over its catastrophic bungling of its Covid vaccination programme and, in stark contrast, the spectacular success of Britain’s rollout – threw an epic and dangerous tantrum.
Thwarted in its bid to bully AstraZeneca into handing over jabs already bought by the UK, the European Commission blocked vaccine exports across the Channel – despicably restricting provisions designed to save lives. To do this, the commissars in Brussels cynically invoked Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol – effectively shutting the Irish border. This was, bluntly, a demented act of diplomatic hostility.
Throughout Brexit negotiations, the EU screeched that it could never countenance checkpoints for fear of fuelling sectarian violence. Now that stance is exposed as self-serving and hypocritical cant.
Moreover, yesterday’s move achieved the impossible by uniting the Tories, Labour, the DUP, Sinn Fein and SDLP in condemning the madness. Not four hours later, in the face of widespread outrage, Brussels performed a humiliating climbdown and axed the Irish blockade.
Emmanuel Macron, meanwhile, sought to trash the safety and effectiveness of the Oxford/ AstraZeneca serum ( despite desperately trying to get hold of doses).
For a president to act so irresponsibly is shameful. The vaccine has passed stringent tests. By scaremongering he risks people shunning it – potentially the difference between someone living or dying.
In spite of all this, Britain’s rollout continues apace. A fifth UK-backed vaccine cleared a crucial hurdle – another triumph.
In its panic and desperation to throw a smokescreen over its own towering ineptitude over Covid, the Commission finally lost all semblance of reason.
Rather than confront its failings, it lashes out. Threatening the supply of jabs was simply wicked, putting dogma before the lives of ordinary people. After this unedifying spectacle, British voters – even the most ardent Remainers – should be extremely relieved that they are out of the bloc.