The European Commission acknowledged a “mistake” on Monday 1 February regarding its initial decision of 29 January—withdrawn the same evening—to include the nation of Northern Ireland in the list of jurisdictions and non-Member States affected by the vaccine export authorisation mechanism (see EUROPE 12647/2).
This initial choice led it to briefly trigger Article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol contained in the agreement on an orderly withdrawal of the UK from the EU. This protocol provides for a safeguard clause allowing unilateral measures to be introduced in the event of failure—such as customs controls, for example—to ensure that certain goods destined for the Republic of Ireland are not distributed in the British part of the island.
Northern Ireland is indeed both a British territory and part of the single market due to the island’s unique position and the Good Friday Agreement. The fundamental principle of the Northern Irish protocol is that no physical control can take place between the two parts of the island so as not to rekindle community tensions.
This dual status for Northern Ireland had been agreed by the EU and the United Kingdom at the end of 2019 as part of the withdrawal agreement. The Commission therefore caused quite a stir last Friday when it triggered Article 16 of the protocol for a few hours, barely a month after the entry into force of the new relationship between the EU and the United Kingdom, and then changed its mind.
This unilateral initiative by the Commission has created a stir in the United Kingdom. As early as Friday, the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, had asked the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, for explanations in a telephone conversation. During the interview, the latter promised that “there should not be restrictions on the export of vaccines by companies where they are fulfilling contractual responsibilities”.
Over the weekend, the Commissioner for Financial Services, Mairead McGuiness, said it was regrettable that the European institution had made a mistake in its haste. She confided to the RTE channel that she had not been informed, which was also the case for many of the College of European Commissioners who were faced with a fait accompli.
Several Unionist officials, such as Northern Ireland’s Prime Minister Arlene Foster, have called on the London government to take steps to reverse the Northern Ireland protocol.
On Monday, Commission spokesman Eric Mamer acknowledged that there had been “mistakes”. It is important “to recognise them” and “to correct the trajectory”, he said.
“It is a big blunder”, a diplomat said Monday.
Link to Article 16 of the protocol: https://bit.ly/3pE8w8C
Link to the Export Transparency Mechanism Regulation: http://bit.ly/39C8WXv (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)