NI Protocol: EU agrees ‘indefinite’ exclusion of border checks for GB medicines coming into Northern Ireland

MEPs backed European Commission proposals on Thursday to ensure the “legal certainty and predictability” for the long-term supply of medicinal products from GB into the Province.

But TUV leader Jim Allister said the move proved that the protocol is “unreformable” as it underlines the power the EU exercises over Northern Ireland.

DUP former economy minister Gordon Lyons said despite the decision by the Brussels-Strasbourg parliament the EU should never have been afforded the right to border check medicines manufactured in GB coming into NI.

In a statement the European Parliament said there would be derogations on the supply of medicines in Northern Ireland but also for Cyprus, Malta and the Republic of Ireland. However, in the case of Northern Ireland “these derogations will apply indefinitely”. The derogations for the other three countries will be temporary over a period of three years, the statement said.

The European Parliament stressed that “specific conditions would be in place to ensure that UK-authorised medicines do not enter the EU single market”, which in effect means sent across the border to the Republic.

These measures will apply retrospectively from January 1 2022, the European Parliament added.

Maros Sefcovic, the vice-president of the European Commission and Brussels chief negotiator with the UK over the protocol talks, described the move on medicines as “great news.”

Mr Allister, however, pointed out that the importation of veterinary medicines from GB to NI was not included in the EU derogations.

On the EU Parliament’s vote to exclude medicines from GB being subjected to checks at Northern Irish ports, Mr Allister said: “Our EU overlords being so gracious as to permit us life saving drugs from the rest of our country is no concession. Northern Ireland has no representation in the European Parliament and yet it is a body making decisions which impact one of the most fundamental aspects of ordinary people’s day to day lives.

“It is also worth noting that the EU is still holding out on veterinary medicines, but fundamentally Thursday’s events show our servile state as a colony of the EU.”

The TUV leader added: “Shame on the government for tolerating such foreign colonial control.”

One of those MEPs who voted for the measure, Sinn Fein’s Chris McManus, said the passing of the legislation will ensure people can continue to access vital health and medical supplies which demonstrated the EU’s “willingness to resolve outstanding issues” and honoured EU promises to resolve checks on medicines.