UK demands urgent explanation from EU over escalating Covid vaccine row

UK ‘reiterated the importance of the Good Friday Agreement’

The UK government is demanding an urgent explanation from the EU after the bloc took on powers to block the export of Coronavirus vaccines that could interrupt supply  to the UK. 

 Downing Street warned the EU that “as a friend” it should not try to disrupt the delivery of jabs to the UK. 

A No 10 spokesman said: "The UK Government is urgently seeking an explanation from the European Commission about the statements issued by the EU today and assurances as to its intentions.

“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.

In what was seen as an escalation of the ongoing row over delays to the supply of AztraZeneca vaccines to the EU, the bloc triggered Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol on Brexit, in an attempt to ensure the province is not used as a back door to the UK. 

In its statement No 10 said the UK government had also "reiterated the importance of preserving the benefits of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and the commitments that have been made to the two communities" in Northern Ireland.  

The move triggered shockwaves in Ireland and the UK. 

Within hours Ireland's prime minister Micheal Martin had spoken to the European Commission's president to express his concerns over EU plans to block the supply of Covid-19 vaccinations into Northern Ireland.

Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove separately raised concerns with the European Commission’s vice president Maros Sefcovic.  

A No10 spokesman said the prime minister also spoken to EU Commission president Ursula Von Der Leyen about the matter.

“[Mr Johnson] expressed his grave concerns about the potential impact which the steps the EU has taken today on vaccine exports could have,” he added.

Labour called on Brussels to abandon the move. 

The shadow Northern Ireland secretary, Louise Haigh, describing the development as “deeply destabilising”.

Political parties across Northern Ireland also appeared to unite in their condemnation of the move. 

And, in an unusual step the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby tweeted that the EU had been 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 row erupted as the European Medicines Agency (EMA) gave its approval for the AstraZeneca vaccine, developed at Oxford University, to be used across the EU.