What is the excuse to have this contract censored? I understand what it's in the interest of security for example, but this...?
Also, where are the people who laughed about Brexit now?
Also, where are the people who laughed about Brexit now?
The idea that this one event makes up for the colossal mess of Brexit is... interesting.
The exact same arrangement would have been possible and likely before Brexit as well.
I highly suspect this is going to cost AstraZeneca big.
UK pro-brexit reporting I have seen has been focusing not on other countries (such as Germany) being upset at the EU's treatment of the UK, but the fact that the EU prevented them from negotiating individually and securing vaccines earlier, and instead imposing additional bureaucracy that delayed the ordering of the vaccine by multiple months.
With the EU introducing export controls against existing (and actually binding) vaccine contracts and now threatening war time-esque controls over production and intellectual property rights of private pharma companies, it is not AstraZeneca that this will cost big, actions like these are much much bigger than uk vs EU
This is the thing. The EU is complaining about AstraZeneca and not the UK itself. AstraZeneca is being accused of transferring supplies from EU factories to UK ones and only providing those to the UK.
> now threatening war time-esque controls over production and intellectual property rights of private pharma companies, it is not AstraZeneca that this will cost big,
I think we think differently on this matter. You think Pharma won't want to deal with the EU if their IP isn't protected. It doesn't matter, another company will enter using their IP and make that money anyways. Their IP being protected is only in the interested of the company, if their IP is not protected they will lose out to generic companies. Doesn't matter where it's developed, someone get it and figure it out and produce it where the IPs are not protected. Drug companies have lots to lose.
Oxford uni and the production plant just happen to be on the other side of the fence right now, there is very little to claim it as a British triumph. They need something to hold onto I guess.
[1] https://twitter.com/BarristersHorse/status/13551877383042539...
> it is not under any obligation, contractual or otherwise, to any Person or third party in respect of the Initial Europe Doses or that conflicts with or is inconsistent in any material respect with the terms of this Agreement or that would impede the complete fulfillment of its obligations under this Agreement;
GB is by far one of the worst performers in the region in handling covid: https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/l7meq9/covid_deaths...
Now try to imagine a world where the development of the Oxford vaccine had failed. And EU based companies had had the success in their place, would you still be having a laugh, given that GB would be on the end of the unfulfilled contract?
Astra Zeneca has contractual obligations with the UK too, and human decency applies to UK people too.
Yet the EU is not only trying to do exactly what you say you dislike, they are also attempting to interfere with totally unrelated contractual obligations (EU-AZ issues leading to "monitoring" of UK-Pfizer contractual deliveries, which has nothing to do with the EU-AZ contract).
And I'm not sure what this has to do with Brexit.
Allowing everyone else to see the contract would give other countries stronger leveraging positions against AstraZeneca.
Perhaps AstraZeneca asked for it and the member states didn't think it was worth fighting over?
Please don't throw grenades.