EU has triggered article 16 over controls on vaccine exports

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Breaking news on sky
news.sky.com/story/covid-19-eu-introduces-controls-on-vaccine-exports-to-northern-ireland-12202656

@FlaviaAlbiaWantsLangClegBack

I don't see what's hard to understand.

I live on the Island of Ireland. Yes, in Northern Ireland but we're all on one island. The idea of me getting the vaccine while someone more vulnerable has to wait just because they live on the other side of the border isnt exactly a happy one is it?

No it's not.

So why aren't you placing the blame where it belongs? At the EU and their highly inefficient vaccine procurement process.

@FlaviaAlbiaWantsLangClegBack

I live in NI and really don’t see the problem. We get our vaccines from the UK stock.

The DUP must be rubbing their hands in glee though. It makes bad headlines to create a them vs us situation that might bolster their currently critical voter base while in reality nothing changes.

I also live in N.I. - honestly how can you not see the problem???

@DamnUserName21

www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/corona-impfstoff-knappheit-die-eu-hat-einen-machtverlust-erlitten-und-das-bekommt-sie-jetzt-zu-spueren-a-7dc4101c-abb8-4883-b4f6-4acad29b5acb

Good article from Germany's Spiegel about the Commission's mindset and desperation at root of its antics.

Is there a way that google could translate this article??

@zookeeper19

Eh!? We never stopped the EU getting the doses they wanted. Back in May, we ordered millions. In August, after months of farting about, the EU ordered an astronomical amount. The UK got their order. AZ hit a production snag with the EU's order. This production snag had nothing to do with the UK. AZ does not work for the UK. We did not stop them getting their order. We left the EU. The EU leaders joyfully waited for us to sink. We hit the ground running with our vaccine programme. EU's rollout was very slow thanks to their own fuck ups. They told us that we had to give them our vaccine supply at the cost of our own citizens. We politely told them that they cannot order us about any more and to take it up with AZ because their issues were nothing to do with us. They hit the roof.

@trulydelicious "I can’t imagine Joe Biden is going to be very impressed either. Interesting to see how/if the US weighs in"

He's certainly got his hands full at home, but he's been quite vocal about issues relating to Ireland and the Good Friday Agreement (he has Irish heritage) and weighed in on it before when Brexit negotiations were ongoing. So I expect he's got an opinion. Will be interested to see whether he comments publicly or not.

We haven't lost much really. And we regained the freedom to make our own choices, without the leaden hand of EU bureaucracy weighing on our shoulders. The EU is revealed as the leaden overpaid lump of paper shufflers that they have been for 15 years.

Latest on Twitter is that a diplomatic solution is in preparation.
I quite like Connelly's podcasts, btw.

Article 16 was triggered so there's no back door of delivery of vaccines from NI to Britain.
ROI supply isn't affected, i.e. the residents of ROI will get the supply as per EU orders (8th February is the date for Astra-Zeneca vaccinations to arrive to ROI).
As this is a very politically sensitive issue, Micheal Martin is already talking to Ursula von der Leyen to exclude NI from this.

ZooKeeper19

Well that was a spectacular display of how little you understand about what's happened.

Biden has been extremely vocal about Ireland!

@ZooKeeper19

OK so let me get this straight.

1. UK says UK comes first in AZ vaccine so they will not provide EU with what they promised.

1. EU says "ok, but we keep Pfizer vaccine for EU then"

1. UK says "cool, NI is still in EU, we will use NI as backdoor to get what WE want"

1. EU says "nah bro, sorry, YOUR deal that YOU drafted and YOU presented as YOUR massive win says we can stop that kind of BS and we are stopping that now"

1. UK cries "about the EU being aggressive, shameful" and what not because....

Anyone else finds this hilarious? UK wanted Brexit, they knew what they voted for, they wanted to control their borders so there. Go. Enjoy.

What are you smoking?! The UK govt is not in this. It's between the EU and AstraZeneca. Who the EU are more or less accusing of smuggling.

As this is a very politically sensitive issue, Micheal Martin is already talking to Ursula von der Leyen to exclude NI from this.

Given that it is, as you say, a very sensitive issue, surely Michael Martin should have been consulted before the EU decided to light the fuse on the Irish border?

Many people have been saying this for the best part of 4years that the EU is not our friend. The shocking names leavers have been called, told they are not intelligent 🙄 and stupid. Oh dear, they are not so stupid now.

Now you can see it with your own eyes what they are truly like.

You can really see how they screwed things up, that BoJo looks good right now! Wow to be worse then BoJo is some feat no wonder they are livid

So, this situation to an idiot like me is,

UK orders vaccines and gets them.
EU orders more but AZ hit a snag.
EU says, UK give us yours.
UK says no.
EU throws an almighty wobbler.

Basically, the EU belong on the CF stories thread.

Correct me if I'm wrong, politics go right over me.

Interesting tweets @lljkk - EU rats fleeing the sinking ship on this already. And who was the prime mover behind it, if denials are to be believed?

Considerable disarray would be the politest description

@FlaviaAlbiaWantsLangClegBack

I don't see what's hard to understand.

I live on the Island of Ireland. Yes, in Northern Ireland but we're all on one island. The idea of me getting the vaccine while someone more vulnerable has to wait just because they live on the other side of the border isnt exactly a happy one is it?

You really don't understand what's going on here, do you? The EU is basically saying that they thing AstraZeneca would smuggle vaccines through Ireland to the UK.

It's batshit crazy.

But it does what the EU wanted - which is to draw the UK govt into the fight. So they can blame the mean old Brits, and keep attention off their own shitshow.

Boris quite rightly said this problem was between AZ and the EU.
Perfectly normal behaviour for private companies to fulfill orders in the order that they receive them. UK ordered 3 months before so AZ is completing that order first.

EU have made it political and the UK's business by triggering Article 16. Baffling how they've gone behind a member states's back (Ireland) and made a decision that's not in Ireland's interest. Strangely the EU may have saved Brexit and the Union by acting the way that Brexiteers warned.

EU member statescando their own thing, Hungary for example has bought the Russian vaccine/been involved in trials for it.

They had no choice as those were the only questionable vaccines the EU vaccine programme hadn't engaged with (therefore Humgary were free to buy them). If they hurry, they might get some Novavax before the EU buys too little of that too.

Frankly, though, what private company would dare commercially engage with them now. Look what they've done/are going to do to AZ? I'd swerve that hard as a manufacturer and start moving fixed assets, manufacturing capacity and IP offshore asap.

Be interested to hear Sturgeon’s views on her desire to remain in EU now.

The ardent remainers on the Brexit board are rabidly defending the EU, apparently this is all the UKs fault

Neither governments North or South we given prior notice the EU were going to invoke article 16.
I don't see how this can't be a concern. What else will we be used for when it suits.
www.rte.ie/news/politics/2021/0129/1193953-north-vaccine-brexit/

Interesting @lljkk Let's hope he's right. Will EU really eat humble pie and admit they were wrong?

were

I always knew the EU leaders were a bunch of arseholes. I always knew that individual countries in Europe and their people are not the benign angels as portrayed by avid Remainers based on hundreds years of history. I still voted Remain. Now I don't know what to think.

Whoever triggered this sure as hell didn't consult the other nations of the EU.. They have seriously fuc**d up. I cannot see how this helps the rollout of the vaccine anywhere. It has shown what a shit show the EU are.