Europe: an apology. As a vociferous supporter of Remain, readers may have been under the impression that this column regarded the European Union as an organisation that embodied the best ideals of enlightened internationalism.

That Brussels was a bulwark against narrow nationalism and selfish xenophobia; a defender of free trade and the rule of law. Above all that Europe was a rules-based organisation that founded its decision-making on the best scientific evidence and could be relied upon to honour contracts and international obligations. We have since learned that Europe has been spreading vaccine fake news and has about as much respect for international law as Donald Trump. We are sorry for any misunderstanding.

Brexiters could not believe their luck last week. Europe’s image has been damaged in the eyes, not just of voters in the UK, but the rest of the world. Under the bewilderingly inept leadership of President Ursula von der Leyen, the EU has turned a pandemic, which should have shown the benefits of European solidarity and common endeavour, into a showcase of bureaucratic incompetence. As of last week, only 11 per cent of EU citizens had been vaccinated against 39% in the UK.

That was bad enough. What was much worse was Ms von der Leyen’s reckless and irresponsible threat to restrict vaccine exports to Britain (and actually block exports to Australia). She has threatened to use emergency powers to take over factories, cancel commercial contracts and seize exports. This is not civilised behaviour. Europe’s failure to place timely orders for the AstraZeneca vaccine were entirely the fault of the laborious and confused EU procurement process.

It is not acceptable to break the law in order to correct past mistakes. And to threaten international supply chains of life-saving vaccines during a crisis. In January, after the EU threatened to create a hard border in Ireland by invoking Article 16 on the Northern Ireland protocol, Ms von der Leyen gave an assurance to Boris Johnson that vaccine contracts in Europe would be honoured. Yet, here we are again.

And something worse still was revealed last week. Successive European countries, applying a supremely brainless version of the precautionary principle, spread what can only be called fake news about the safety of a life-saving vaccine: AZ. Just imagine if Donald Trump had halted the administration of the Oxford vaccine without a shred of scientific justification, on the basis of a scare story? He would rightly have been roundly condemned by politicians and the media.

Yet, no fewer than 17 European countries last week took leave of their senses and, in the middle of a rising third wave of this deadly pandemic, opted to join the ranks of anti-vaxxers. With no scientific justification, they suspended a vaccine that had been proven to be safe. Most, but not all of those countries, have now agreed to recommence the use of AZ after the European Medicines Agency gave it clearance on Thursday. But the regulators were only repeating what they had said before, and what the World Health Organisation has said from the start. AZ was always safe.

The fears of blood clots, which had led to the suspension of AstraZeneca, were groundless. As the authority on medical risk, Sir David Spiegelhalter, pointed out there had been fewer thromboembolism cases in the 17 million people who had received the AZ jag than in the non-vaccinated population. If anything, this suggested that the Oxford vaccine might be protecting people against blood clots, not causing them. There were anyway the same number of cases of this mysterious side effect with the Pfizer vaccine, but none of the countries that blackballed AstraZeneca halted Pfizer.

It was a dispiriting spectacle for those of us who have always supported the European project. President von der Leyen was accusing Britain of vaccine-hoarding last week at the very moment that millions of jags were not being administered because of the blood clot scare. Observing Europe’s erratic behaviour throughout the pandemic has been like watching an old friend succumb to paranoid delusion. I can still hardly believe that Angela Merkel – a scientist – actually refused to have an AstraZeneca jag last month. Emmanuel Macron said the vaccine was “almost ineffective for over-65s”, a total misrepresentation.

It’s been hard enough to get sceptical citizens vaccinated in countries like France where anti-vaxx sentiments are strong. Some 40% of French citizens were unhappy about being vaccinated even before the foolish suspension of AZ. In France, only one-third of healthcare workers have had a jag compared with nearly all Britain’s. Worryingly, medics here have been reporting a sharp increase in no-shows as faith in the vaccine falters.

Nor is Brussels’ approach to the Irish Border issue helping the image of the EU. It’s taking Britain to court over the unilateral extension of the grace period on border checks for goods entering Northern Ireland. The UK Government is at fault here, but suspending border checks for a limited period during a pandemic is not exactly a criminal act. It is to help keep supermarket shelves in the province full.

The EU Commissioner Maros Sefcovic has claimed that the UK “does not understand the Northern Ireland protocol”. He claims that Britain effectively agree to a hard border in the Irish Sea. Britain did not and could not have done this because it is totally unacceptable to Unionists. The Protocol is based on the Good Friday Agreement and requires the consent of both communities in Northern Ireland.

This all comes as disturbing news for Nicola Sturgeon. She has founded her call for independence recently on the basis of reversing Brexit and rejoining the EU. But what confidence can Scots have now that difficult border issues will be resolved in an amicable way after we leave the UK. The EU has made very clear that a hard border will exist between Scotland and the rest of the UK.

Moreover, since Brexit, the EU has done a remarkable job of behaving like a protectionist organisation that seeks to inhibit trade by creating bureaucratic obstacles. There have been arbitrary restrictions and cases of multiple form-filling, which have all but ruined the Scottish seafood industry. This is not all Brussels’ fault and perhaps should have been foreseen before Brexit. But perhaps, also, we are beginning to see the European Union as other non-EU countries have always seen it. In vaccine supply, as in trade generally, Brussels seems to make up the rules and then lecture other countries on not following them.

Indeed, given the vaccination chaos, is the European Union an organisation that Scots will still want to join? I’m no longer entirely sure. To repeat: spreading fake news about a vaccine during a pandemic is almost criminally irresponsible. The governments who participated in this scare may find themselves held to account by citizens infected by Covid-19 as a consequence of delay and misinformation.

Ursula von der Leyen has tarnished the image of the EU

with vaccine nationalism and megaphone diplomacy. The first responsibility of a state is the protection of its citizens and in the pandemic, it appears as if Brussels is not fit for that responsibility. And because it is unelected, it cannot be held to account by voters.