Forum Topic

Contract lawyer required to help with pesky European client

Good money if you can sort it out PDQhttps://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/api/files/attachment/867990/APA%20-%20AstraZeneca.pdf

Russell Pearson ● 2098d16 Comments

Haha, yes, excellent money for some lucky lawyers!

Claire Moran ● 2098d

Even more so now, there’s a strong confidentiality clause and some fool in the EU web team, published it with all the redacted parts showing in its bookmarks.

Russell Pearson ● 2098d

OMG, I would not like to be whoever did that!

Claire Moran ● 2098d

Reminds me of a time when a VP in a company i worked for had a team email called say MarkLacostaOrg. His admin thought she was sending just Mark Lacosta all the details of the bonuses, share options and perks his top team were getting, but sent it to the whole team. Poor lass made the same mistake twice. We never saw her again.

Russell Pearson ● 2098d

A work colleague was making some points to a client about how they could improve their marking and signed it  I hope the above is helpful, retards. She didn't realise her mistake until the client suggested she should perhaps have a little more respect.

Claire Moran ● 2098d

Marketing, that should have been

Claire Moran ● 2098d

“ The EU is arguably playing a self-harming game in potentially restricting vaccine exports to the UK as a tit for tat for the inability of AstraZeneca to supply the 80 million doses it ordered by the end of March.First of all, this looks like unedifying EU sour grapes that the UK, out of the EU, moved earlier to place vaccine contracts and will soon be self-sufficient in vaccines.Second, it risks damaging the reputation of the EU as a place where multinationals can securely invest, because it is blowing up the supply chains of two big American companies with EU operations, Pfizer and Moderna.The UK, desperate for inward investment, will look relatively more attractive as a haven for foreign capital.Third, it risks converting the UK’s many Brexit sceptics into reluctant Brexit converts, because it is conspicuous that an independent UK put in place more contracts for vaccines per capita and much earlier than the EU – and rather than accept the commercial and political reality, the EU is now shouting foul play.It is not the best look for the EU.”Robert Peston

Russell Pearson ● 2097d

And journalist is a renowned remainer.

Claire Moran ● 2097d

Possibly he’s becoming one of the ‘reluctant Brexit converts’ over the EU’s bureaucratic mismanagement.

Russell Pearson ● 2097d

I remain a remainer - one EU cock-up over vaccine procurement shouldn't blind us to all the benefits of the EU and the shambles that is Brexit. However, the EU has done much to give succour to its enemies. The invocation of article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol is quite simply unbelievable, given that the whole idea of the protocol was the avoidance of a hard border between the Republic and Northern Ireland. It makes the EU look like a bunch of hypocrites. Macron can no longer hide his antipathy to the UK, with ridiculous and uninformed side-swipes at the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. Moreover, from a cursory glance at the Advance Purchase Agreement (thanks for the link, Russell) it seems far from "crystal clear", as claimed by Ursula von der Leyen, that AZ is bound to deliver vaccine produced in the UK to make up for a production shortfall in Belgium. And whence all this talk about diversion of supplies from Belgium to the UK? Let's see the evidence. At the moment all I see is the Commission throwing its toys out of the pram.

Robert Fish ● 2097d

Steven Barrett disagrees“ What our courts say is that if you wanted the contract to say X, you should have written it as X. If they wanted a strict guarantee, they should have written in a strict guarantee. If parties write they must use best efforts, it means they must use best efforts. Attempts to erode that or increase the burden bump headfirst into this problem.This contract does contain, as the president of the EU commission has said, ‘binding orders’. But these are binding orders to use best efforts. If you leave those words out, as Ursula von der Leyen has done in her public statements, people do not get the full picture. So the publication of this contract doesn’t change my view that statements made by the commission remain wrong and unhelpful.”

Russell Pearson ● 2097d

I haven't read Steven Barrett's views, but from the snippet you have posted here he seems to agree!

Robert Fish ● 2097d

I agree Robert.I'm a very marginal Brexiter but that aside this doesn't reflect well on the EU ,Macron (Paris,ENA elite)conforming to a French chauvinist caricature(he almost has to,Le Pen etc) and the Commission's petulant and bullying behaviour.I think closed doors are best for hammering this out,not saying it's not fair ,here's the contract with the important bits redacted.It's pathetic ,a massive faux pas.

Ben Gemmingen ● 2097d

Having read the agreement in detail, and with 30 years of legal experience behind me, it is clear to me that the EU has basically misunderstood the contract from start to finish.The obligation on AZ to deliver the doses to EU is a best reasonable efforts obligation only.  Best reasonable efforts is a defined term that obliges AZ to use the same efforts a similar sized company would do - it does not authorise them to break contracts with 3rd parties.  The best reasonable efforts is not limited to developing the vaccine (as EU suggested) but expressly includes commercialization of the vaccine.Clause 5.1 obliges AZ, using best reasonable efforts, to manufacture EU's initial order of 300 million doses in the EU (not including UK). Clause 5.4 requires AZ (again to use best reasonable efforts) to manufacture the Vaccine (that is for whoever in the world orders it) in EU which for the purposes of clause 5.4 only includes the UK. I have hunted throughout the agreement but I can find no requirement on AZ to break its contracts with other countries in order to satisfy the EU contracts.I could go on but the EU has fundamentally screwed this up.  If that wasn't bad enough this afternoon/evenings shambles of vaccine export notifications "for transparency reasons only" which within a couple of hours metamorphised into blocking the Eire/NI border for transport of vaccines allegedly without informing the Eire govt beforehand (they discovered by twitter!) has turned a bad situation into a cataclysmic disaster.I am a remain voter, I still believe that UK's economic interests are best served being part of the EU, but the last few days are really causing me to reconsider

Justin Stephenson ● 2097d

He does on that Robert, was not clear on who he disagreed with. My bad, as they say. Seems like an awful pickle for the EU, especially as so many damned the UK for going alonehttps://app.spectator.co.uk/2021/01/29/what-the-experts-said-doomsday-vaccine-predictions/content.html

Russell Pearson ● 2097d

Thanks Justin, that's really interesting.

Ben Gemmingen ● 2097d