Vegan sausage rolls face a ban in Northern Ireland under Brexit rules unless manufacturers agree to rebrand them with new names.
The European Parliament is set to vote on Wednesday for an amendment that would stop plant-based products being marketed using “meaty terms”.
Firms operating in Northern Ireland will need to dream up alternative names like “tubes” or “discs” after conservative EU politicians pushed the measure to keep farmers happy. The news comes as UK citizens in the EU were warned they face automatic huge fines from Sunday.
But Greggs vegan sausage rolls will dodge the EU naming restrictions thanks to a quirk in the Brexit treaty, reports The Telegraph.
Ulster politician slams regulatory chaos
Robin Swann, an MP for the Ulster Unionist Party, said: “This regulatory absurdity highlights the urgent need to scrap the Irish Sea border and ensure NI businesses operate under UK, not EU, law.
“For those who remember the 1984 episode of the satirical television programme Yes Minister, the plotline in which the EU would require the renaming of the British sausage as an ’emulsified high fat offal tube’ seems to be fast becoming a reality.”
Windsor Framework triggers restrictions
The ban kicks in because of the Windsor Framework, which forces Northern Ireland to stick to certain EU regulations that don’t apply in Britain, including requirements around food labelling.
The agreement set up the Irish Sea border, bringing in checks on British products, while keeping the land border with the Republic of Ireland open after Brexit.
Yet the same deal also created a gap that means Greggs vegan sausage rolls, along with similar items manufactured in Britain, can still be sold in Northern Ireland using their standard UK branding.
Greggs produces the pastries in Britain before shipping them across to 24 bakeries in Northern Ireland. The products travel over the Irish Sea border through the “green lane” for goods judged unlikely to move into Ireland, and the UK trusted trade scheme for simplified customs procedures.
This arrangement allows them to be sold in Northern Ireland as vegan sausage rolls under Windsor Framework provisions.
Political anger over Brussels control
Timothy Gaston, the member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for the Traditional Unionist Voice, said: “Once again, Northern Ireland finds itself bound by rules it did not make, subject to decisions in which no Northern Ireland representative has a vote.
“While the European Parliament debates what a sausage roll can be called, businesses here must brace for yet another layer of regulation that applies in Belfast but not in Birmingham.”
Mark Francois, the chairman of the European Research Group of Tory MPs, said: “This shows just how hollow Labour’s much-vaunted ‘EU reset’ – which includes regulation of foodstuffs – really is. We shouldn’t roll over on this.”
Parliament prepares for crunch vote
The plenary vote in the European Parliament takes place on Wednesday. Predictions suggest the centre-Right European People’s Party, the biggest group in Strasbourg, the hard-Right and some liberal MEPs will throw their weight behind the prohibition.
Such backing would deliver a majority in what represents a win for European conservatives over Greens and liberals.
MEPs clash over meat terminology
Céline Imart, the centre-Right lead MEP who put forward the amendment, said: “A steak is made of meat – full stop. Using these names only for real meat keeps labels honest, protects farmers and preserves Europe’s culinary traditions.”
Thomas Waitz, an Austrian Green MEP, said: “This is a cultural war, and this is a cultural war that has been started by the far-Right.”
Stormont brake remains an option
The Northern Ireland Assembly has the power to postpone EU law implementation by activating the “Stormont brake”, provided it secures sufficient backing from legislative assembly members.
The tool has been triggered twice previously but on both occasions the UK Government ruled that it failed to meet the bar of having a “significant impact specific to everyday life of communities in Northern Ireland in a way that is liable to persist”.
A Government spokesman said: “We will not comment on hypothetical scenarios or speculation.”
The European Commission was asked for comment.