Last checked at 
* EU triggers emergency Brexit clauses
* EU tries to restrict vaccine exports to UK
* UK seeks urgent answers
* Irish PM expresses concerns to EU chief
(Adds reaction, details)
By Andy Bruce and Kate Holton
LONDON, Jan 29 (Reuters) - The European Union on Friday
sought to restrict exports of COVID-19 vaccines to Northern
Ireland by overriding a part of the post-Brexit deal with
Britain, a steep escalation of the bloc's battle to secure
vaccine supplies.
Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster described as
"an incredible act of hostility" the decision by the EU to
invoke Article 16 of the Northern Irish Protocol, which allows
Britain or the EU to take unilateral action if there is an
unexpected negative effect arising from the agreement.
A spokesman for the British government said senior cabinet
minister Michael Gove had expressed to the EU "concern over a
lack of notification", and said it would be "carefully
considering next steps".
The EU move is designed to prevent the open border between
EU-member Ireland and Northern Ireland from acting as a backdoor
for vaccine supplies into the United Kingdom.
It was not immediately clear if the move to invoke the
article, set out in a document published on Friday, would come
into effect immediately. A link to the document was no longer
working at 2050 GMT.
Article 16 was devised as a last resort to alleviate serious
disruption to trade in Northern Ireland after Brexit.
The EU, whose member states are far behind Israel, Britain
and the United States in rolling out vaccines, is scrambling to
get supplies just as the West's biggest drugmakers slow
deliveries to the bloc due to production problems.
The British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca has been
caught in the crosshairs after it said last week it would fall
short of delivering promised vaccines to the EU by March because
of production problems in Belgium.
That has angered Brussels which has demanded to know why it
cannot divert supplies from its British sites which have been
producing millions of shots for British citizens.
The European Commission has agreed a plan to control exports
of vaccines from the bloc, including to Britain, arguing it
needed to do so to ensure its own supplies.
The Commission said its move to invoke Article 16 was
justified to "avert serious societal difficulties" in EU states
due to a lack of vaccine supply, the document published on
Friday said.
Britain has its own domestic supply chain in place for
AstraZeneca's shot, including rolling it out in Northern
Ireland, but it imports Pfizer's vaccine from a factory in
Belgium.
Ireland's Prime Minister Micheál Martin expressed concern to
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen over the executive's decision.
Northern Ireland's Foster went further. "This is an
incredible act of hostility," she said.
"By triggering Article 16 in this manner, the European Union
has once again shown it is prepared to use Northern Ireland when
it suits their interests but in the most despicable manner –
over the provision of a vaccine which is designed to save
lives."
Britain had threatened to trigger the Article 16 safeguard
measures earlier in the month if there were "serious problems"
in supplying supermarkets in Northern Ireland.
(Reporting by Kate Holton, Andy Bruce and William James;
Editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
