EU backtracks on Brexit deal threat over Covid vaccine row – follow live

The EU has now backtracked on its move to temporarily override part of Brexit’s Northern Ireland Protocol, which governs the region’s trading arrangements with the bloc and the rest of the UK.

Here are answers to some of the main questions about the protocol and how it became caught up in a row over Covid vaccines:

Northern Ireland Protocol

It was the resolution to the main sticking point in the Brexit divorce talks: the Irish border.

In order to avoid disrupting cross-border trade and a return of checkpoints along the politically sensitive frontier, the EU and UK essentially agreed to move new regulatory and customs processes to the Irish Sea.

That means the checks are now focused on trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland while goods are supposed to be able to move freely within the island of Ireland.

Trade between Northern Ireland and Great Britain is largely unaffected by the protocol and remains free flowing.

This is a mechanism within the protocol that gives the EU and UK the ability to unilaterally suspend aspects of its operations if either side considers that aspect is causing “economic, societal or environmental difficulties”.

It is only supposed to be triggered in the face of “serious” problems but there is no definition of what constitutes serious.

Article 16 is supposed to be a temporary measure, essentially an emergency brake, with both sides expected to then work to address the problem.

A senior Conservative politician has drawn comparisons between the EU and Donald Trump after the bloc was forced to withdraw plans to try to block vaccine supply to Northern Ireland for fear it could be a back door route into the UK. 

Kate Devlin, our Whitehall editor, reports:

The Northern Ireland Protocol has been lambasted as a “stick for the EU to beat the UK with” after Brexit, following a vaccine row with the EU.

The DUP’s Westminster leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said: “That the EU was going to use the Northern Ireland Protocol as the very instrument to create a medicines border on the island of Ireland, to create a border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland for the very thing that people are looking for most at the moment – this coronavirus vaccine – just left me feeling absolutely incredulous.”

He told Times Radio: “I’m glad they backed down but I’m afraid the genie is out of the bottle and that genie is that the EU clearly sees the Northern Ireland Protocol as a stick to beat the UK with.”

Sir Jeffrey added: “They did it yesterday, they will do it again. That is why we have said to the Prime Minister this protocol is harming the integrity of the UK single market. It is harming the Northern Ireland economy.”

The protocol is regarded with hostility by unionists as a border down the Irish Sea, and some DUP MPs have called for Article 16 to be triggered over delays faced by hauliers transporting goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

But antagonism reached a new level when the EU moved to use the protocol to stop the unimpeded flow of vaccines from the bloc into Northern Ireland.

Additional reporting by Press Association

Meanwhile over in Norway, the coronavirus lockdown in the capital’s region will be gradually loosened by early February. 

More reactions are coming in this morning over the EU’s now-scrapped decision to invoke Article 16. 

A former politician in Irish premier Micheal Martin’s party said the Taoiseach was furious at the EU’s abandoned move to override part of the Brexit deal on Northern Ireland.

“The action doesn’t make any sense at all and it has clearly embarrassed the Irish Government, which was blindsided,” ex-Europe minister Dick Roche told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“I understand that Micheal Martin was very annoyed at it, that he made very strong representations to the (European) Commission.”

Additional reporting by Press Association

The vaccine row is not the first time temporarily overriding part of the Brexit deal on Northern Ireland has been suggested this year.

Earlier this month, Boris Johnson vowed to trigger Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol if it was necessary to stop supermarkets running short of food – attacking “absurd’ bureaucracy.

Rob Merrick, our deputy political editor, reported at the time: 

Arlene Foster, Northern Ireland’s first minister, has pressed Boris Johnson to replace the Northern Ireland Protocol, which she said was “unworkable”.  

On the EU invoking Article 16 of the protocol to stop the unimpeded flow of vaccines from the European bloc into the region, Ms Foster called this “absolutely incredible act of hostility towards those of us in Northern Ireland

The DUP leader reiterated calls for Mr Johnson to enact Article 16 of the protocol over delays being face by hauliers.

“We’ve been asking the PM to deal with the flow problems and indeed, since 1 January , we’ve been trying to manage along with the government the many, many difficulties that have arisen between Great Britain and Northern Ireland and there are actions he could take immediately,” she said.

“There is great unrest and great tension within the community here in Northern Ireland so this protocol that was meant to bring about peace and harmony in Northern Ireland is doing quite the reverse.

“The protocol is unworkable, let’s be very clear about that, and we need to see it replaced because otherwise there is going to be real difficulties here in Northern Ireland.”

Additional reporting by Press Association

The EU sparked anger over a proposed move involving the Brexit deal. Here is a quick look at what it involved and why:

EU products should still be able to travel unhindered from the bloc to Northern Ireland under the post-Brexit deal, with special arrangements for the UK region designed to protect the peace process in Ireland.

In an extraordinary move that blindsided both the UK and Ireland, the EU invoked Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol – allowing either eide to override parts of the deal – to stop the unimpeded flow of jabs from the bloc into the region on Friday.

The move was taken by the EU to prevent Northern Ireland being used as a back door to move coronavirus vaccines from the bloc into the UK, and the bloc justified the move over a lack of vaccine supplies. 

The EU has since U-turned to say it is “not triggering the safeguard clause” to ensure the protocol is “unaffected”.

Additional reporting by Press Association

Julian Smith, a former northern ireland secretary, has accused Brussels of an “almost Trumpian act” by threatening to override part of Northern Ireland Protocol under its coronavirus vaccine controls.

“Years have been spent trying to ensure goods will flow freely and there will be no hard border and last night the EU pulled the emergency cord without following any of the process that are in the protocol if one side wants to suspend it,” the Tory MP said.

“And they did that, in my view, without anywhere near the understanding of the Good Friday Agreement, of the sensitivity of the situation in Northern Ireland, and it was an almost Trumpian act.”

He told the BBC’s Today programme: “The EU cocked up big time last night but we all need to work in the interests of preserving Northern Ireland.

“It is not just a backdoor for goods going to Britain, it is a very sensitive place and we have a duty of care between the EU and the UK to preserve no hard border and stability in Northern Ireland.”

Additional reporting by Press Association

In a U-turn late last night, the EU withdrew its threat to trigger a Brexit deal clause to prevent coronavirus vaccine exports from Europe entering Northern Ireland as a backdoor route into Britain.

The row was prompted by delays to the EU supply of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.

Kate Devlin and Andrew Woodcock report: