EU Contract With AstraZeneca

'Condone' is the wrong word. They have not done anything but act as they are entitled to under the agreement concluded by Lord Frost.

 

Interesting that the EU took the “nuclear” option at the first opportunity against the UK in response to a dispute between the EU and a non-government Anglo-Swedish organisation in AZ.

This is an interesting read.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-55844268

 

It’s laughable, the EU has f.ucked up big time with its orders. Obviously it’s all the UK’s/Brexits fault.

 

I'd be interested to see if the contract with Pfizer has a 5.4...that USA shall be included in the EU....how does that work....did we give them permission to consider us as in the EU for the purposes of the contract?

 

It looks as though Von der Leyen might have overstretched herself...Belfast Telegraph now reporting it's cancelled after a phonecall by Taoiseach Michael Martin.

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/...-bid-to-control-vaccine-exports-40029018.html

 

If AZ cannot fulfil their contracts, it is only right that they should deliver what they are able to in an equitable manner.

E.g

EU are due 15m doses in Feb and UK due 5m.

If AZ can only manufacture 10m (irrespective of where this is done) then 7.5 should go to the EU and 2.5 to the UK.

No need for anyone to throw teddies. Maybe I should join the diplomatic service.

 

That doesn't seem to be the case....UK and AZ contracted in June...that was a crystal clear deal. The EU Commission approached AZ in mid August and were told AZ could not guarantee the numbers from the EU production plants they wanted written into the deal, so the term of best effort was inserted. Due mainly to a filtration problem in the Belgian operation, yields were not high enough to make the volumes the Commission wanted.
In the contract released to the press the EU have included the UK plant to be treated as an EU plant, considering the UK is now a third country in EU terms that seems to be a creative way of thinking, certainly out of the Commission's remit...likewise AZ unless the UK agreed to amend it's contract to accommodate it.

 

Cheers for posting that - really interesting read!

 

I think disappointing is the word I'd use. Brexit has happened and the EU know our national position on sovereignty. But both sides still need to co-operate in the interests of protecting public health and in the longer term, trade (including holidays). It's a poor start to the new relationship, although thankfully they now appear to have backtracked.

 

Ooooo look at you you racist

 

It is interesting to note that those most vociferous anti Conservative/UK Govt/Brexit posters on here, seem to be overly keen to give the EU the benefit of the doubt over AZ situation in spite of the EU commission's shambolic handling of this and the vaccination programme overall pretty much universally condemned by anyone not swayed by political ideology. Examples above highlight this .

One particular point, Orsen, refers to the Irish border element of the agreement but omits the fact that lecturing the UK Govt on the importance of adhering to it, the EU commission, at the first opportunity invoked the 'over-ride clause' (now u-turned on that after universal condemnation from all sides) to effectively impose a hard border between NI and Eire.

Did any of you actually read the long interview with the CEO of AZ that Sadbrewer posted? Not only does it pretty much wipe the floor with the many false claims the EU have made i.e. suspicion diverting supplies to countries paying more, Guaranteed delivery dates/quantities, Macrons false claims reinforcing certain German media ones that the AZ virus is not performing as it should and not working for over 65 and THEN admitting he had no evidence to back that up!! (As someone succinctly put behaviour, out-trumping Trump!
Also and important point, the fact that scientific data strongly suggests AZ seems to be more effective with a longer gap between 1st and second dosage and the Govt is correct in extending the time interval between 1st and 2nd dose,(albeit only in respect of the AZ vaccine)

In the light of that, do those of you I have quoted above, wish to reconsider your views on how the EU have responded to their Mishandling? I am not asking or expecting any reconsideration of the Brexit decision but at least some acknowledgement that your cynicism regarding AZ's position, instead leaning towards supporting the EU was unfounded.

https://www.repubblica.it/cronaca/2...azeneca_coronavirus_covid_vaccines-284349628/

 

Tekktykey takes on all comers, eh?

What I was pointing out was that the EU were permitted to take the step they attempted by the terms of the recent trade deal negotiated by Lord Frost. That is slightly different to the UK government proposing - as they did earlier - to act in breach of a signed treaty. The UK withdrew that threat, and now the EU have withdrawn their use of the provision. If you want my view on how the EU have gone about this then see my post at #109 above, Tekky. Do I think the EU have covered themselves in glory over this? No. Was it a good idea? No. They have been slow to act in securing the vaccine and I have to concede that this lends weight to those who would argue - yourself included - that the EU is an unwieldy structure. On balance, despite this issue I still think we would have been better off remaining and striving harder to reform it from within. And when all is said and done, we are going to need the bulk of the EU populace to have been vaccinated as well before we are able to properly emerge from the pandemic. So I guess I'll concede a score-draw on this one!

 

At the same time as reducing the supply to the EU, AZ have increased their supply to the UK. The UK is paying much more per dose than the EU due their bargaining power so it looks to me like AZ have made a business decision to switch supply to the UK because they are making more money - even though they stated last year that they intend to supply the vaccine profit-free.

It wouldn't surprise me if Hancock's half hour didn't twist a few arms as well due to the pressure he was under to increase our supply a few weeks back.

All-in-all AZ don't come out of this very well except of course the Tory-backed media don't mention any of that, their aim is only to make the EU look bad.

Edit. The EU's attempt to block the vaccine at the Irish border was ill-judged in the extreme but thankfully and sensibly they have admitted their mistake and backed down. Can't see our bunch of jokers admitting a mistake and backing down as swiftly.

 

I think this summary is absolutely spot on.

 

Read the long interview SadBrewer posted - it is of course AZ's side of the story but is very compelling.

I don't believe there's a profit motive at all and you'll see why in the article.

The Government's handling of the pandemic has been shambolic at nearly all levels - but there's no EU stitch-up going on here. The EU have have tried to save face internally by finding a bad guy other than themselves and have made themselves look quite ridiculous.

 

So not only has the EU made a complete mess of its vaccination program and is now blaming anyone but themselves. But it has also reverted to type by bullying the suppliers (that are not making profit on the vaccines currently) down even further on price too, to gain an advantage.

Now with the humiliating backtrack on Northern Ireland, after attacking the UK over their dispute with a non-govt anglo-swedish company, the EU really can’t make themselves look any worse at the moment.

 

No

 

Well an hour n half ago I wanted to gain more information on the Thread topic, the BBS is the gift that keeps on giving.......

 

After four years of lecturing Britain that it could never countenance anything that might lead to a hard border in Ireland, the European Union, in a desperate response to its own vaccine incompetence, introduces a hard border. Then thinks better of it.

 

Anyone commenting on this thread that hasn’t read the link provided above, should stop commenting until they have read it.