Brexit: Wine connoisseur on cutting of 'red tape' tests
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Yesterday Brussels set out plans to ease restrictions on drugs shipped from mainland Britain to the region. It came amid warnings that about 2,000 medicines currently offered to patients in Northern Ireland could be withdrawn as drug manufacturers grapple with EU red tape.
The bloc’s mealy-mouthed attempt to find a solution was instantly slammed by many Express.co.uk readers.
One raged: “I don’t believe what the EU says whatsoever, just hit the damn Article 16 (which would unilaterally suspend the protocol)!”
Another said: “The first sign of losing access to the UK’s fishing waters and they fold like a wet piece of paper.
“There’s a reason for this. Our government still won’t admit it.
“The EU takes TEN TIMES the amount of fish from UK waters that it has a quota for. The extra is thrown through a mincer, reclassified as ‘waste’ and sold to animal feed manufacturers to supply the EUs factory farms.”
A third wrote: “Anyone with a brain knows that the EU is just messing around in Ireland because they want to punish the British for Brexit.”
Meanwhile a fourth claimed: “The EU doesn’t want to change and we need to get out of this farcical situation.
“Break the contract and move to WTO rules.”
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The news emerged as the UK and EU remain locked in a bitter war of words over the protocol.
The Brexit withdrawal agreement effectively left the province in the EU’s single market – leading to checks on some goods travelling between Northern Ireland and the mainland.
The protocol has threatened to destabilise long-standing sectarian tensions in the province.
Its Unionist community has rioted over the checks – which they insist threaten their British identity.
It has also threatened to disrupt supplies of vital supplies of drugs.
In a bid to stave this off, EU Brexit chief Maros Sefcovic said: “These solutions have an unambiguous common denominator – they were brought about with the core purpose of benefiting the people in Northern Ireland.
“Ultimately, our work is about ensuring that the hard-earned gains of the Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement – peace and stability in Northern Ireland – are protected, while avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland and maintaining the integrity of the EU single market.”
Under the post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland, the region must essentially remain part of the EU’s regulatory system for medicines.
This means that drugs made in Great Britain for use in the area will have to be licensed separately as well as undergo safety inspections and other checks.
There is currently a grace period in place to give manufacturers, suppliers and the NHS time to prepare for the changes, but the measure expires in December.
The commission has now set out proposals to tweak its own rules for imports of medicines into the bloc to stop potential shortages next year.
As part of a “proposed solution”, Brussels says many of the controls on medicines made in Great Britain for use in Northern Ireland will be allowed to be authorised in the UK.
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