Turns out that the EU was right though. AstraZeneca, after being asked by the EU to do so repeatedly and refusing, finally declassified (most of) their contract with the EU to the public today.
What utter dishonesty. It pains me that it takes so many more words to explain why Ursula von de Leyen is full of shit than it takes for Ursula von de Leyen to spew shit.
There is no dispute that AstraZeneca included the two UK production sites in the vaccine supply chain; the country of origin is only of legal significance in whether or not AstraZeneca needs approval to start vaccine production for EU-bound vaccines in a non-EU country. If AstraZeneca wanted to produce EU-bound vaccines in the USA, for example, they would need to give written notice beforehand to the EU to proceed. The EU and AstraZeneca both agreed that vaccine production in the UK would not need prior-written notice.
The EU then makes the puzzling leap of judgement in asserting this gives them rights to seize British vaccines. And I'm not just talking about vaccines made in the UK, I'm also talking about the vaccines we've been buying from Belgium and the Netherlands; as far as the law is concerned here it doesn't matter if the vaccines are made in the UK, the EU or the USA, who purchased them owns them.
They are also contractually bound that no other contract can get in the way of supplying the EU, including contracts with the UK.
Having read what has been released, I haven't found any clause stating ""hey are also contractually bound that no other contract can get in the way of supplying the EU, including contracts with the UK." This would have been a highly strange deal for AstraZeneca to make too, you know, considering they made their deal with the UK long before the EU signed a deal with them. So until the EU President publishes the document showing how AstraZeneca decided to cancel their contract with the UK in favour of the EU, I will maintain that the EU President is a thief of thieves.
AstraZeneca topman Soirot was lying when he said earlier this week that AstraZeneca had no obligation to do more than 'try their best' to supply the EU. He was also lying when he suggested that the contract stated that the UK had priority over the EU.
Ursula von de Leyen accused Soirot of lying. However, if you read the contract, it's plain as day Soirot told the truth and Ursula von de Leyen was lying. She said there is a clause stating the EU takes priority over the UK. There isn't. She said there isn't a clause about "Best Reasonable Efforts," nor is there even a mention of the phrase "Best Reasonable Efforts" - but of course, there is. Not only is it referenced practically every clause, but it even has its own spot in the list of legal definitions:
1.9 "Best Reasonable Efforts" means
(a) In the case of AstraZeneca, the activities and degree of effort that a company of similar size with a similarly-sized infrastructure and similar resources as AstraZeneca would undertake or use in the development and manufacture of a Vaccine at the relevant stage of development or commercialization having regard to the urgent need for a Vaccine to end a global pandemic which is resulting in serious public health issues, restrictions on personal freedoms and economic impact, across the world but taking into account efficacy and safety; and
(b) In the case of the Commission and the Participating Member States, the activities and degree of effort that governments would undertake or use in supporting their contractor in the development of the Vaccine having regard to the urgent need for a Vaccine to end a global pandemic which is resulting in serious public health issues, restrictions on personal freedoms and economic impact, across the world.
Plain as day brazen EU lying.
5.1 Initial Europe Doses. AstraZeneca shall use its Best Reasonable Efforts to manufacture the Initial Europe Doses within the EU for distribution, and to deliver to the Distribution Hubs, following EU marketing authorizaation, as set forth more fully in section 7.1, approximately [redacted] 2020 [redacted] Q1 2021, and (iii) the remainder of the Initial Europe Doses by the end of [redacted].
5.4 Manufacturing Sites. AstraZeneca shall use its Best Reasonable Efforts to manufacture the Vaccine at manufacturing sites located within the EU (which, for the purpose of this Section 5.4 only shall include the United Kingdom) and may manufacture the Vaccine in non-EU facilities, if appropriate, to accelerate supply of the Vaccine in Europe; provided, that AstraZeneca shall provide prior written notice of such non-EU manufacturing facilities to the Commission which shall include an explanation for such determination to use non-EU manufacturing facilities.
More plain as day brazen EU lying. Clearly says AZ shall use its Best Reasonable Efforts to manufacture the Vaccine.
18.7. Force Majeure. Neither the Commission nor the Participating Member States nor AstraZeneca shall be held liable or responsible to the other Party or be deemed to have breached this Agreement for failure or delay in fulfilling or performing any term of this Agreement when such failure or delay is caused by or results from events beyond the reasonable control of the non-performing Party, including fires, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, embargoes, shortages, epidemics, quarantines, war, acts of war (whether war be declared or not), terrorist acts, insurrections, riots, civil commotion, strikes, lockouts or other employment disturbances (whether involving the workforce or the non-performing Party or of any other person) acts of God or acts, omissions or delays in acting by any government authority (except to the extent such delay results from the breach by the non-performing Party or any of its Affiliates of any term or condition of this Agreement. Defaults of service, defects in equipment or material or delays in making them available, labour disputes, strikes and financial difficulties may not be invoked as force majeure, unless they stem directly from a relevant case of force majeure.
[snipped some more stuff because seriously I am typing this by hand]
The suspension of performance shall be of no greater scope and no longer duration than is necessary and the non-performing Party shall use Best Reasonable Efforts to remedy its inability to perform and limit any damage.
And of course the relevant part here is that the non-performing Party shall use its Best Reasonable Efforts to remedy its inability to perform and limit any damage.
He was also lying when he suggested that the contract stated that the UK had priority over the EU.
No, what Soirot said was that there is no priority clause at all in the EU-AZ contract. The EU told him to break the UK-AZ contract, which had been signed months before the EU began negotiating with AZ, and Soirot said no. What's more, is that Soirot stressed the only reason the UK production sites are working fine and the Belgian one is not, is that the UK production sites have been producing for longer, giving them more time to rapidly increase scale of production after working out all the faults. If the EU just gave the EU production sites enough time and stopped fucking raiding them, then they would take the same amount of time as the UK sites to reach these historic levels of production.
So yeah, I get that UK press and the people are upset if this means they will be getting vaccinated later. But please be mad at AstraZeneca and not at the EU.
I've gone over the legal aspects of the dispute, now I want to address the moral and political aspects.
THE GOOD AND THE BADThe EU deliberately retarded European vaccine development as
policy. They could've chosen to begin hasty development, at risk of procuring vaccines which had low efficacy or high risk. Now they have the option to begin procuring vaccines that other nations like the UK have tested on their populace, but the consequence of that is also that they are at the back of the queue. The UK has produced more German-developed vaccines than Germany, we've just began production of a French-developed vaccine last week, and just one hospital in my area of London has vaccinated more people last week than were vaccinated in the entirety of France or Germany.
This is not the fault of the UK, this is the fault of the EU. By ensuring no government could negotiate directly with vaccine production companies, all EU nations were dependent upon the EU to choose which vaccines, how much and when. This led to that obvious madness of the UK making more European developed vaccines than Europe.
This situation should not exist, and would not exist if the EU did not exist. For Germany to break ranks and negotiate directly anyways whilst the Portuguese and Spanish die is just icing on top of the cake of hypocrisy.
How is this right?
This isn't even about AZ in particular. I'm just fucking astounded at how badly the EU has blockaded Europe, and then it has the bloody gall to turn to the country with the highest death rate in Europe and say "You know those vaccines? yeah the one you developed, made and bought before I even signed a deal? Yeah give them to me or I'll start a trade war with you.
THE UGLYThe majority of AstraZeneca vaccines that were destined for use in the UK are made in the UK. The UK has a very mature biotech industry and in 2019
was the #1 exporter of vaccines in the world. The EU doesn't have a single mechanism capable of stopping AZ or any other pharmaceutical company from delivering the vaccines they've promised to the UK. It is honestly chilling to think that if we didn't, the EU would be completely happy to kill us in exchange for a few months catch-up to a game they decided wasn't worth playing.
The EU's only teeth would be to halt the export of AZ vaccines made in the EU, which I expect they will do, because the EU enjoys making the mistake of being a team killing fucktard. By starting this trade war, the UK is not going to be able to export vaccines
OR medicines to EU nations. This shit is going to get way out of hand, and it doesn't make any fucking logistical or political sense.
The UK is trying to boost production and availability everywhere. In the UK, in the EU, even across the world via COVAX. The doses the UK has already paid for will be used in the UK whether or not the EU agrees; if the EU seizes the vaccines we've purchased from EU sites, we'll be forced to halt exports to the EU, and we currently vastly outproduce the entire EU in vaccine production. It's not even a choice which outcome is better.
Option A: The EU puts its toys back in the pram and lets AZ actually set up vaccine production within the EU at a scale which will meet the historic demand of the corona vaccine. This only benefits the EU and has no disadvantages.
Option B: The EU starts a trade war with the UK over medicine and vaccines. The EU seizes AZ vaccines made in EU sites, but loses access to all UK medicine exports (for treating COVID), loses access to all UK manufactured vaccines they've ordered and after the UK's vulnerable pops are vaccinated, loses access to all the surplus vaccines the UK will be exporting.
People like me in the UK want to see to it that when we have finished vaccinating our vulnerable pops, we start exporting our vaccines worldwide so that other countries can vaccinate their vulnerable pops. It doesn't make sense to vaccinate a local healthy person before a foreign doctor. But your leaders come at us with such fucking venom, telling us they have to show us their weapons, what the actual fuck? Who do they think they are, threatening people who are helping them? How can I convince anyone here now that we should send vaccines to the EU?
*EDIT
It has begun. Speak of the devil, and the devil will decide to commit collective suicide on everyone's behalf. There is a clear option where everyone wins here and the EU would rather, to paraphrase again, fuck them, fuck us, fuck everyone, fuck the world