The contract between AstraZeneca and the EU has now been published. It confirms my view, expressed on Coffee House, that the EU does not – despite its claims – have any form of ‘strong case’ or way to jump a queue to speed up its vaccine rollout.
Both contracts (the one, published previously, which I used as an example in my last post, and today’s) are what the EU calls advance purchase agreements, or APAs. The latest contract has slightly different wording in some places. But the differences are not substantial. This, then, appears to be bad news for the EU if it is serious about taking action against AstraZeneca.
The words ‘Reasonable best efforts’ remains in the contract and is the cornerstone of the obligation AstraZeneca is under. Clause 5.1 says they must use their reasonable best efforts to deliver the due doses. The definitions used here differ slightly from the previous contract published.
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