Political relations between UK-EU

[BobKowalski]

Whilst I find the latter part of you post humorous, I don’t think we were flapping, if the UK government had done the same I’d have said exactly the same. The GFA is sacrosanct.

Agreed. Dublin was always going to put the mockers on it though. The advantage of having the Commission making these mistakes is it allows member states to drop in and get it reversed in hours, whereas if a Govt makes a mistake it can take days or weeks for them to admit it, let alone reverse it.

Also, it makes Dublin look good to the people in Northern Ireland, bank a bit of political capital.

 

[Gaylord du Bois]

 

[Ric]

Spanish Foreign Minister lost her head on Newsnight, Faisal Islam absolutely panning her.

He seems angry at her responses. Telling her “UK developed this vaccine and clearly has first dibs” ... yes he said first dibs.

She almost screams at him in response... oh dear getting ugly.

Lost her head completely. They’re so rattled.

She was probably saying “what the fuck does ‘dibs’ mean?!”. Suspect it doesn’t translate easily into Spanish.

 

[Ban-jani]

She was probably saying “what the fuck does ‘dibs’ mean?!”. Suspect it doesn’t translate easily into Spanish.

I thought “dibs” was a north west slang term but Faisal Islam trotted it out.

Made me find a new found respect for him.

 

[BobKowalski]

Interesting snippet...

‘It’s also my understanding that Michael Barnier was instrumental in ensuring the situation was resolved promptly. And was far from satisfied - read pretty livid - that the situation with Article16 came about in the first place.‘ @independent_ie

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

Agreed but today it’s the EU.

What say you?

Absolutely.
Coveney and Martin talking to them tonight, not your lot.

Says it all.

 

[Ban-jani]

Agreed. Dublin was always going to put the mockers on it though. The advantage of having the Commission making these mistakes is it allows member states to drop in and get it reversed in hours, whereas if a Govt makes a mistake it can take days or weeks for them to admit it, let alone reverse it.

Also, it makes Dublin look good to the people in Northern Ireland, bank a bit of political capital.

Somehow the Republican Irish government and DUP were united today.

Interestingly Johnson called Ireland tonight, according to the BBC, to reassure them the UK are trying to calm the situation and won’t do anything to disrupt the GFA.

Well done EU, you’ve made Boris Johnson the adult in the room.

 

[Del_Bosque]

Have to say I'm concerned to see what pans out now.

It's AZ saying that the EU isn't due any of the Oxford Vaccines currently in the UK, UK Govt generally hasn't said anything.

If the EU seize the Pfizer vaccines that Pfizer aren't saying are for the EU and are to be shipped to the UK, I dread to think what state diplomatic relations would be in.

 

[The Stockport Iniesta]

She was probably saying “what the fuck does ‘dibs’ mean?!”. Suspect it doesn’t translate easily into Spanish.

Wish he'd said the UK has it's mojo back.

 

[Ban-jani]

Somehow the Republican Irish government and DUP were united today.

Interestingly Johnson called Ireland tonight, according to the BBC, to reassure them the UK are trying to calm the situation and won’t do anything to disrupt the GFA.

Well done EU, you’ve made Boris Johnson the adult in the room.

@mancity2012_eamo read this.

Luckily my government and yours are behaving like adults, sadly, the EU are not.

 

[Ric]

Interesting snippet...

‘It’s also my understanding that Michael Barnier was instrumental in ensuring the situation was resolved promptly. And was far from satisfied - read pretty livid - that the situation with Article16 came about in the first place.‘ @independent_ie

Looks like he’s not entirely happy with the way this has panned out. Always seemed like a man of integrity tbf.

 

[Ban-jani]

German journalist on Newsnight saying she hopes the EU backs down, thinks they are acting in bad faith. She says she hopes no UK citizen is affected by this.

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

Agreed. Dublin was always going to put the mockers on it though. The advantage of having the Commission making these mistakes is it allows member states to drop in and get it reversed in hours, whereas if a Govt makes a mistake it can take days or weeks for them to admit it, let alone reverse it.

Also, it makes Dublin look good to the people in Northern Ireland, bank a bit of political capital.

Don’t know about your last paragraph, but at least north and south saw things the same.

The only thing I’d say cautiously is that Arlene was more likely to see it as an opportunity to exploit rather than an unnecessary risk to the GFA.

 

[BobKowalski]

Spanish Foreign Minister lost her head on Newsnight, Faisal Islam absolutely panning her.

He seems angry at her responses. Telling her “UK developed this vaccine and clearly has first dibs” ... yes he said first dibs.

She almost screams at him in response... oh dear getting ugly.

Lost her head completely. They’re so rattled.

Because the EU approach was to try and not have countries getting ‘first dibs’, they wanted everyone to benefit at roughly the same time and smaller countries not be penalised.

For better or worse that was the strategy, which is why the EU is a tad ‘emotional’ with the UK right now, and with AZ as well, I guess.

 

[Ban-jani]

Because the EU approach was to try and not have countries getting ‘first dibs’, they wanted everyone to benefit at roughly the same time and smaller countries not be penalised.

For better or worse that was the strategy, which is why the EU is a tad ‘emotional’ with the UK right now, and with AZ as well, I guess.

They’re 3 months late for that, fuck ‘em.

 

[Marlo]

Okay, I’ll try again. Oxford would have denied the world a potential life saving vaccine if AZ refused to prioritise the UK?

They would have turned round and said ‘Nah, we’ll sit this one out.”

Their humanity and altruism is inspiring.

Oxford are a English university funded by the British government. Government funded research typically comes with some strings attached in either patent, profit or distribution.

Whether you agree with it or not, there is no way a scientific research centre is going to go against it's own government and jeopardise it's future relationship funding status.

 

[BobKowalski]

Don’t know about your last paragraph, but at least north and south saw things the same.

The only thing I’d say cautiously is that Arlene was more likely to see it as an opportunity to exploit rather than an unnecessary risk to the GFA.

Definitely, Arlene couldn’t seize the chance fast enough, which was another good reason to nix this stupidity asap.

 

[Gaylord du Bois]

Covid-19 vaccine chaos as EU is forced into U-turn after blocking supplies to the North

THE EU was forced into an embarrassing U-turn last night as it backtracked on a decision to block vaccines being transported into Northern Ireland.

amp.independent.ie

Didn't see that coming .

"A European Commission source described the decision to invoke the article as an “oversight”. The source said a “mistake was made somewhere along the way” and insisted vaccines will not be stopped from entering the North.'

 

[The Stockport Iniesta]

Because the EU approach was to try and not have countries getting ‘first dibs’, they wanted everyone to benefit at roughly the same time and smaller countries not be penalised.

For better or worse that was the strategy, which is why the EU is a tad ‘emotional’ with the UK right now, and with AZ as well, I guess.

Germany bought 30M extra doses for themselves. Enough of this one for all, all for one bollocks.

 

[BobKowalski]

They’re 3 months late for that, fuck ‘em.

And that’s is precisely the point. 27 countries wanted to coordinate their approach so no one got ‘fucked’, all the major developed countries pledged to avoid ‘vaccine nationalism’, including the UK, so structuring the AZ contract to benefit the UK went against that pledge.

In December, the EU sent us vaccines when we were short, but ready to get started, and that is something that won’t be forgotten in a hurry once this settles down.

’Fuck ‘em’ works both ways.