Clifford Chance

Brexit Will Not Frustrate The European Medicines Agency's Lease at Canary Wharf

27 February 2019

The case of Canary Wharf (BP4) T1 Limited & ors v European Medicines Agency [2019] EWHC 335 (Ch) provides commercial certainty for contracting parties bracing themselves for Brexit across England and Wales, at a time where uncertainty is otherwise rife. The English High Court rejected the European Medicines Agency's case that their 25-year lease of premises in Canary Wharf would be discharged by way of frustration on the UK's withdrawal from the EU – Brexit did not legally frustrate their contract. The judgment will discourage other contracting parties from claiming that Brexit frustrates their contracts.

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