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The European Commission’s legal threats against AstraZeneca for the delay in Covid-19 vaccine deliveries are likely to end in failure. This is what several clauses in the EU’s contract with the Anglo-Swedish company seem to confirm, according to legal experts with whom we shared the uncensored contract.
The most crucial provision, among those redacted in the document made public on January 27, states that “the European Commission and member states waive any claims against AstraZeneca for delays in delivery”.
According to Colin McCall, partner at international law firm Taylor Wessing, this leaves no doubt that the Commission’s claims are unfounded. Clive Douglas, attorney and commercial mediator at Nexa Law, agrees. The claims concern the 60 percent cut in doses scheduled for the first quarter of 2021, announced by AstraZeneca on 22 January.
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At this point, the Commission’s legal team seems to have very little room for maneuver. Now they have to declare whether there is in fact any case to be made, in response to a question submitted in late January by a group of Social Democratic MEPs. One of these MEPs, Andrea Cozzolino, announced that this response should arrive in early March. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the same disclaimer is also present in the contracts signed with other pharmaceutical companies,” McCall says. “Given the experimental nature of the vaccines, it is unlikely that the manufacturers have agreed to binding deadlines.” Article 5.1 states …
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