The sudden outbreak of European Union bashing among Irish politicians following the European Commission blunder on the Northern Ireland protocol is a serious overreaction that threatens damaging consequences for the country’s credibility in the years ahead.
It has been noted widely in Brussels and across the EU that Ireland appears oblivious to the extraordinary solidarity shown to us over the Border issue during Brexit negotiations. On a more parochial level the tone of the response will undoubtedly encourage the anti-EU forces in this country to rear their heads again.
It is worth remembering that despite of the enormous benefits that EU membership has conferred on this country over the past half century the Irish electorate twice voted against important treaty changes that held up the entire bloc for years. The electorate has also consistently elected MEPs – about one in three – who are basically hostile to the European Union project.
It should be no surprise if some of our partners in the bloc conclude – from the tone of the response from all parties to the error made by commission president Ursula von der Leyen – that EU solidarity is a one way street as far as many in Ireland are concerned. It seems that when it comes to having our cake and eating it Irish politicians can give British prime minister Boris Johnson a run for his money.
That is not to say the Government in Dublin was wrong to react swiftly to the ill-conceived threat to invoke article 16 of the protocol. It also needs to be acknowledged, though, that the immediate acceptance by the commission that a dreadful mistake had been made nipped the problem in the bud.
That has not stopped a range of Irish politicians dragging out the issue as they vie with each other in the indignation stakes. This was evident in the way von der Leyen was berated by some of the Irish MEPs in the European Parliament and the hostile treatment of commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic by the Oireachtas committee on European Affairs.
In typical fashion the Irish politicians focused on trying to find someone to blame for the article 16 mistake rather than giving their attention to the far more important question of how the working of the protocol can be refined to ensure that it does not further increases tensions in Northern Ireland.
Finding scapegoats to demonise is one of the favourite pastimes in Irish politics. The two commissioners rightly refused to finger the official who came up with the ill-judged scheme and accepted political responsibility for the mistake. That is as it should be but it is not the way in this country.
The reaction of Taoiseach Micheál Martin to the episode was far more sensible. His advice to all sides, the commission included, to “cool it” and ensure that the protocol was administered in a sensible fashion was the right way to proceed and hopefully that will have some beneficial impact in the North.
The commission error stemmed not from any desire in Brussels to interfere in Irish-British relations, but was a response to enormous pressure the commission is under concerning the vaccine rollout across the bloc. Von der Leyen has taken a pasting from politicians and media in her home country of Germany for the slow rollout compared to the United Kingdom.
A unified response
People in this country who have also been vociferous in their criticism of the vaccine rollout would do well to remember that the commission is being attacked precisely because it has sought a unified response across all 27 member states. Its strategy is based on ensuring that the smaller, poorer countries get the same access to the vaccine as bigger more powerful ones.
Much criticism of the commission president in her home country is based on the belief that Germany would have done far better to go it alone and let the other EU states fend for themselves. Thankfully, that is not the way the EU operates.
The commission was undoubtedly slower than the UK to conclude contracts with the big pharmaceutical companies. The main reason was that it sought to negotiate a reasonable price and to ensure that legal liability for any adverse vaccine reactions be accepted by the companies and not passed on to member states.
The faster response of the British has given them a head start on vaccinations but it is worth noting that the Covid infection rate in Ireland and Germany seems to be coming down a bit faster than that of the UK despite the slower vaccine rollout. It is also interesting to note that a greater proportion of the Irish population has now received the second dose of the vaccine compared to Britain, although numbers in the UK who have received the first dose is much higher.
One way or another the vast majority of EU citizens should be vaccinated by the autumn as the supply of the already approved ones is ramped up and new products get the green light. Much of the current anxiety about the pace of the vaccine rollout will hopefully be a distant memory along with the Irish overreaction to the protocol mistake.