| UPDATED: 15:58, Sun, Feb 14, 2021
Link copied
Sign up for FREE now and never miss the top politics stories again
SUBSCRIBE Invalid email
When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time.
The Commission President was forced to apologise, more than once, after she engaged in a bitter contractual row with the Oxford vaccine producer AstraZeneca. The row escalated when Mrs von der Leyen threatened the UK with vaccine export bans against Northern Ireland by triggering Article 16 of the Brexit protocol. The move was swiftly retracted and the contracts with AstraZeneca were published after MEPs demanded clarity from the EU chief.