The Telegraph

Ursula von der Leyen on Monday pinned the blame for the vaccine fiasco that led Brussels to threaten a hard border on the island of Ireland on her trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis. The European Commission president threw her deputy, who leads DG Trade, under the bus amid rising anger from EU capitals at her go it alone tactics during last weeks battle with AstraZeneca. Jean-Claude Juncker, Mrs von der Leyen's predecessor, said he was "very much opposed" to her export restriction measures. In a speech in Stuttgart on Sunday, Mr Juncker also said of the EUs vaccine procurement: "It all went too slow, it all should have been done more transparently, even though that would have been difficult." This regulation falls under the responsibility of Mr Dombrovskis, said Eric Marmer, the European Commissions chief spokesman, referring to the former prime minister of Latvia, a Brussels veteran with a reputation for caution. In my country we have a saying, Only the Pope is infallible. Mistakes can happen along the way the important thing is that you recognise them early on, Mr Mamer said. Alexander Stubb, the former prime minister of Finland who campaigned to be appointed European Commission, president was scathing about Mrs Von der Leyen. He said "Number one rule of any leader: if your organisation screws up; never, ever blame your team publicly" Mrs von der Leyen was forced into a humiliating climbdown on Friday after announcing Brussels would trigger Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol, to prevent AstraZeneca vaccines being smuggled into Britain from Northern Ireland. The move, which was announced without notifying Ireland or Britain, would have created a vaccine border after years of Brexit talks to avoid a hard border on the island. After the Irish prime minister called Mrs von der Leyen, the regulation, which could have facilitated a vaccine export ban to non-EU countries including Britain, was amended. Mr Mamer said that the regulation to create an export transparency mechanism, which including the Article 16 measure, was passed provisionally and at speed by the entire College of Commissioners on Friday. Asked by the Telegraph if this was Ms Van der Leyens worst week, he said: We believe that we are on the right track since the beginning of this pandemic in ensuring there is as cohesive and as effective a European response as possible. Mrs von der Leyens attempts to pass the buck cut no ice with EU diplomats, who suggested she had gone rogue, or German MPs in Berlin, who plan to summon Ursula von der Leyen for questioning. In a further blow to Mrs von der Leyen, the move was led by MPs from her own party, Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU). Mrs von der Leyen has refused calls for a public debate on the debacle in the European Parliament. Instead she will on Tuesday hold closed door meetings with MEPs with parties who approved her appointment. It is understood that Mrs von der Leyen took personal charge of the vaccine row and that DG Trades senior official is Sabine Weyand, whose objections to triggering Article 16 were reported to have been overruled. Ms Weyand is keenly aware of the political sensitivities around the Brexit divorce treatys Northern Ireland Protocol. She was Michel Barniers deputy Brexit negotiator and a key figure in the creation of the Irish border backstop.

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