Brussels to break down Northern Ireland barrier to UK medicines, sources say
Brussels is eyeing Northern Ireland’s barriers to British medicine supplies, looking to remove them in a bid to ease Brexit border negotiations, according to reports.
The Northern Ireland Protocol has been wreaking havoc on negotiations, but the European Union is expected to offer an ‘olive branch’ in London on Wednesday, The Telegraph first reported.
The Protocol means Northern Ireland continues to follow EU rules for medicines and medical equipment after Brexit, which prevented the controversial hard Irish border.
However, the Protocol also means that medical supplies, even ones from the NHS, will have to undergo checks once a year-long grace period ends later this year.
UK-made medicines will need separate licenses, testing and inspections before they can be used in Northern Ireland after the grace period.
With 98 per cent of medicines coming from the UK, the checks would slow down around £600m worth of drugs imported into Northern Ireland each year.
Time-sensitive drugs for cancer, epilepsy and diabetes are at particular risk due to the cost of the post-Brexit bureaucracy, the EU sources said.
The UK and the EU have engaged in tumultuous talks regarding the Protocol since Britain unilaterally extended grace periods in the Protocol for some goods, which Brussels said broke international law.
The European Commission has since brought legal action against the UK for the alleged breach.