EU to Northern Ireland vaccine blockade - we must never forget! (4k)

**Very sad to hear of the death of Captain Sir Tom Moore, who more than once in his life did so much for the nation in its hour of need! My thoughts and prayers go to his family and friends and may he rest in peace.**

We must never forget this high handed action by the EU Commission of invoking Article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol so it can hoard its vaccines.

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EU to Northern Ireland vaccine blockade - we must never forget!

The EU Commission might have reversed its decision to invoke Article 16 of the Withdrawal Agreement Northern Ireland border protocol over vaccines, but we must never forget why they did it, nor the manner in which they did it.

On Friday afternoon the EU Commission decided to protect EU manufactured vaccines and in the process set out to trigger Article 16 of the protocol, something that would prevent vaccines being transported from Southern Ireland into Northern Ireland.

But in doing so, they did not talk to the UK government or the devolved administration in Northern Ireland nor even the Southern Irish government.

A stunning lapse when one considers the wording of Annex 7 of the Protocol, which lays out the criteria for using Article 16:

"Where the Union or the United Kingdom is considering taking safeguard measures under Article 16(1) of this Protocol, it shall, without delay, notify the Union or the United Kingdom, as the case may be, through the Joint Committee and shall provide all relevant information.

"The Union and the United Kingdom shall immediately enter into consultations in the Joint Committee with a view to finding a commonly acceptable solution.

"The Union or the United Kingdom, as the case may be, may not take safeguard measures until 1 month has elapsed after the date of notification under point 1, unless the consultation procedure under point 2 has been concluded before the expiration of the state limit.

"When exceptional circumstances requiring immediate action exclude prior examination, the Union or the United Kingdom, as the case may be, may apply forthwith the protective measures strictly necessary to remedy the situation."

And no, I don't think the current vaccine situation is so exceptional as to warrant zero notification and immediate action. As borne out by the subsequent walk back by the EU Commission.

The fact is the EU Commission decided to sidestep the notification requirements and just impose their will on the situation.

In my view, it was totally unacceptable and was conducted with arrogance aforethought.

Especially as the EU were so insistent on the protocol's existence in the first place, saying there must never be a hard border Ireland.

So, it was also done with hypocrisy aforethought.

Especially given the fact that the protocol is not working correctly for the people of Northern Ireland, in that it is having detrimental effects as well as diverting trade.

The Brexiteer element of the Labour Party, Labour Leave, says:

"Since the Prime Minister signed that deal it has become apparent that there are severe societal, political and environmental difficulties between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is still subject to most of the EU's customs rules.

"Trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland has slumped by 50%. Social media is full of businesses explaining the difficulties they have in accessing Northern Ireland markets. This is a crisis for our country that risks breaking the Union between Great Britain and Northern Ireland."

Now speaking in the House of Commons this afternoon in response to an urgent question on this matter, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Michael Gove, said that:

"Trust has been eroded, damage has been done and urgent action is therefore needed."

And he went on to say that all this must be dealt with calmly. Something the shadow Northern Ireland Secretary, Louis Haigh, agreed with.

And Gove will be the person dealing with it as he is co-chair of the committee that oversees the Withdrawal Agreement and protocol. The other co-chair is Maros Sefcovic, vice president of the EU Commission.

Yes, deal with it calmly and sensibly, but do not allow it to be airbrushed out of political history for the sake of expedience.

And there is another very significant aspect to this. The EU is now monitoring vaccines moving from the Republic of Ireland into Northern Ireland - from Dublin.

That's right, remote monitoring of vaccine traffic from the EU into the UK across the Irish border.

Anyway, the former DUP MP and now Lord, Nigel Dodds, wrote a scathing piece in the NewsLetter saying that the UK must stand up to Brussels to protect Northern Ireland.

4k. 4k video.

#Brexit

#NorthernIreland

#Vaccines

Видео EU to Northern Ireland vaccine blockade - we must never forget! (4k) канала Jeff Taylor