Mr. Maro? ?efovi:

I thank Senator Chambers for her questions. I was noting them down so I hope I will not skip any of them.

We did not take the decision. Article 16 was never triggered. To describe a little to the Senator the situation on that fateful Friday, the primary objective of the day's work was to make sure that Europe was getting its fair share of vaccines. We are the major producer of the vaccines and we had a feeling we were not always getting our fair share from the production, which takes place in the European Union. We felt we had this very important agreement signed, we had invested a lot in the vaccine development and we simply did not have enough transparency as to where these vaccines were going. That was the idea behind the export authorisation scheme and, therefore, this was the thrust of the proposal which was on the table. As I said, the mistake was made but once we realised it on the political level, and there had been immediate contacts with the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, as well as with the UK, we corrected it before it had been activated, before it was adopted, within three hours. We made a mistake, we acknowledged it and we corrected it. Therefore, this also has to be viewed in this context and, as I pleaded in my opening remarks, on the grounds of our track record. We have always been very loyal in the EU with Ireland and Northern Ireland in supporting the peace process and stability. Looking at the withdrawal agreement negotiations, I hope I am not exaggerating when I say 70% or 80% of the time was devoted just to find a solution in the form of the Northern Irish protocol. In addition, it is now the key point upon which the future relationship with the UK and with Northern Ireland will be based. We made the mistake but I ask the committee to take it into the perspective of how close the relations between the EU and all EU member states that supported this very complex decision have become and how strong the support Ireland and Northern Ireland always got from the EU is.

Coming to the other issues concerning trade and, as Senator Chambers rightly pointed out, the issues linked with the daily lives of the citizens in Ireland and Northern Ireland, here we did our utmost to the extent possible to limit or minimise the disruption or negative consequences of the UK leaving not only the EU but also, as I said, the Single Market and the customs union. It seems to have come as a surprise to many that the UK, as of 1 January, is a third country. Different suggestions we have made throughout the negotiation - remaining part of the Single Market and remaining part of the customs union - have been rejected, so we had to find a new solution based on the United Kingdom's wish to have a relationship as between sovereign equals. Therefore, we are now in a much more complex relationship.

If the Chairman will allow me one additional point, we look, unfortunately, at the protocol very often as an obstacle and a problem. I am 100% convinced, being part of these negotiations, that the protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland is the only solution to resolve to the best possible level the problems on the island of Ireland linked with the peace, stability and the avoidance of a hard border. I hope our next session with the committee will allow us to focus on the future and on the fact that, as I see it, this protocol is an opportunity for Northern Ireland business leaders to benefit from the fact that they are part of the Single Market and at the same time, of course, part of the UK internal market. I think that represents a lot of opportunities. Now, however, we are at the early stage, where the adaptation of economic life is needed, certain rules are just kicking in and we see that it is administratively extremely challenging. We are fully aware of that and, therefore, when we had this very intense negotiation with the UK in December, we fully understood that it is not that easy to change or develop the IT database from one day into another. Therefore, we had full understanding of the export health certificates and even some additional experience because we realised that they need time to adapt. This is the time to adapt because they insisted on a particular state of our co-operation and on a particular model. Therefore, it is the joint responsibility of the UK and the EU to make the protocol work and to be very pragmatic. I am solution-driven and can promise the committee I will do my utmost to look for a workable solution on the ground which will be good for the people but which, at the same time, will of course protect the integrity of the Single Market and be supported by the member states and the European Parliament.