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Please keep your distance: Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen
Photo: Alexandros Michailidis / Pool European Commission / imago images / Hans Lucas
The dispute over vaccine supplies between the EU and the British-Swedish company Astrazeneca has turned into a diplomatic crisis between London and Brussels.
After the European Union announced that it would in future strictly monitor exports between Ireland and Northern Ireland, the Northern Irish Prime Minister Ariene Foster accused the EU of an "act of hostility".
By controlling exports of vaccines produced in EU countries, the EU is creating a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, which the Northern Ireland Protocol should actually prevent, she tweeted.
This is an "incredible act of hostility" and an "aggressive and shameful procedure".
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called on the EU Commission to immediately explain its intentions with regard to possible controls.
In the course of the dispute over delivery cuts by the vaccine manufacturer AstraZeneca, the EU announced in a document on Friday that it would closely monitor the export of vaccines in future and, if necessary, stop it.
Pharmaceutical companies that have also concluded supply contracts with the EU will have to apply for export permits in future.
EU apparently relies on Article 16
In the statement, which was later removed from the website, the EU refers to Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol, which allows unilateral safeguards in the event of unexpected negative effects of the deal.
In this specific case, the EU wants to protect itself against unregulated vaccine doses reaching Great Britain via Northern Ireland as a back door.
AstraZeneca had previously announced that it could only make a fraction of the promised deliveries.
The assumption is that vaccines produced in the EU were delivered to third countries such as Great Britain.
In the evening, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson expressed to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that he was “very concerned” about the potential impact of the EU's steps.
This was announced by a spokesman.
The Commission did not initially provide an opinion.
The further development was initially unclear.
The station EuroNews reported, citing EU circles, that the dispute had been resolved.
“The whole thing was a 'mistake' and an 'oversight,'” it said.
Due to the Northern Ireland Protocol negotiated by London and Brussels, the part of the country belonging to Great Britain is even more closely tied to the EU despite Brexit and continues to follow the rules of the EU internal market.
This is to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, which could lead to the flare-up of old, violent conflicts.
Export controls between the EU and Northern Ireland would contradict this regulation.
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hba / dpa / Reuters