The EU has filed a lawsuit against AstraZeneca for late delivery

The EU announced on Monday that it had filed a lawsuit against the Austrogeneca laboratory for failing to maintain its commitment to the distribution of the anti-Kovid vaccine, which the Swedish-British group immediately considered unfounded.

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“The terms of the agreement (signed by Brussels on behalf of the member states) have not been respected and the company is not in a position to implement a reliable strategy to ensure timely deliveries,” a European Commission spokesman said.

AstraZeneca delivered to EU countries in the first quarter, only 30 million doses out of the 120 million promised under the contract. In the second quarter, it expects to deliver only 70 million of the 180 million initially planned.

“Legal action has been initiated unanimously on behalf of the Commission and on behalf of the twenty-seven member states, without specifying the court to be seized,” the spokesman said.

The EU agreement with AstraZeneca, which is a censored version, is an agreement under Belgian law that establishes the laboratory, commission and states “before the special jurisdiction of the courts” to resolve any disputes. Brussels ”.

AstraZeneca said in a statement Monday that the lawsuit was “unqualified” and that it was “demonstrating its willingness to defend itself.”

The group said it had “fully honored” the agreement with Brussels and hoped to deliver 50 million doses “by the future” by the end of April, hoping to “resolve the dispute immediately”. Possible. “.

“We are making progress in meeting the difficult (…) technical challenges of making vaccines and our production is improving”, the lab argues, adding that growth in its production will take time.

“The important thing for us in this regard is to see to it that the adequate doses of European citizens are delivered expeditiously,” a commission spokesman argued.

In this civil action, which took several months, Europeans should “request the termination of the contract, damages, or termination of the contract (deliveries),” Belgian lawyer Arnaud Johnson said in a study of the deal with law firm De Bandt.

The provision committing the laboratory to “best reasonable effort” (liability for means) is, according to him, “to be at the heart” of the case.

AstraZeneca should argue that there are other agreements to honor with the United Kingdom, according to the same source, which authorized the vaccine in late December, a month earlier than the EU.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday reiterated his support for AstraZeneca, which he described as “a very strong partner for the United Kingdom”.

The Commission had already launched a contract dispute resolution process on March 19 to resolve the dispute with Astrogenica and announced that it had not activated the option available to the EU to purchase an additional 100 million doses in the contract.

The use of the estrogen vaccine is restricted in most countries of the European Union because it rarely causes thrombosis. Denmark no longer uses it.