Suspending NI Brexit deal during vaccines row ‘an oversight’ – EU ambassador

UK Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove told MPs that Article 16 should only be invoked after every alternative had been “exhausted”. Picture: Owen Humphreys/PA

The European Union’s decision to suspend part of the Brexit agreement on Northern Ireland during the vaccine supply row was an “oversight”, the bloc’s ambassador to the UK has admitted.

The European Commission was forced into an embarrassing U-turn last week after facing intense criticism for attempting to hinder the free flow of Covid-19 vaccines across the border with Northern Ireland using a legal clause called Article 16 in the Northern Ireland Protocol.