The EU Court Slaps Down Von der Leyen: SMS Messages with Pfizer Boss Must Be Revealed
Potential setback for EU vaccine agreement: Von der Leyen may suffer judicial loss - Secret Agreement for Vaccine Distribution via SMS
Get ready for some juicy deets! The European Commission's secretive ways just met their match, thanks to the New York Times. The court ruling has given the green light for the disclosure of all SMS messages exchanged between EU Commission Prez, Ursula von der Leyen, and Pfizer CEO, Albert Bourla.
Here's the lowdown: the EU Commission and the vaccine manufacturer, Biontech/Pfizer, struck a hefty deal back in spring 2021, for up to 1.8 billion doses of the coronavirus vaccine, worth a whopping 35 billion euros at the time. The New York Times claims that personal chats between the two bigwigs were instrumental in clinching the deal, with them allegedly locking horns via SMS.
When the Times asked for access to these explosive text messages, the Commission shrugged it off, claiming they didn't have the goods. The judges were having none of it. They called the Commission out for basing its responses on shaky assumptions and for changing their tune. If the texts were deleted, the Commission was supposed to cough up an explanation, but there was none to be found.
The Times is hailing the ruling as a win for transparency and accountability in the European Union. The Commission, meanwhile, vowed to take a closer look at the judgment and to cough up a more detailed explanation.
So what does this mean for the future? Christoph Brill, legal advisor for the German Journalists' Association, explains that the ruling sets a powerful precedent. If someone can prove that certain documents exist, an authority can no longer simply claim they don't have them. If they have disappeared, they'll need a solid reason why.
In the midst of the pandemic, the European Commission was in charge of hammering out deals for vaccine doses on behalf of member states. This process attracted criticism due to the lack of transparency or delays in delivery. The European Public Prosecutor's Office also opened an investigation into the billion-dollar coronavirus vaccine purchases.
Daniel Freund, a Green MEP, said it's high time to put an end to von der Leyen's secretive phone antics. "Official messages should be systematically saved, archived, and disclosed if necessary," he declared. This ruling isn't the first time von der Leyen's text messages have hit the headlines: during her time as Germany's defense minister, data from one of her phones mysteriously disappeared. The Defense Ministry explained it away as a "security incident." Critics, however, claimed that evidence was lost during the consultancy scandal, which involved allegations of improper contract awarding up to nepotism.
- Text messages
- New York Times
- Ursula von der Leyen
- Transparency
- Messages
- EU
- Luxembourg
- Disclosure
- Legal dispute
- Boss
- Phone
- EU Commission
- Focus
- Coronavirus
- Pfizer
- ECJ
- Biontech
- Spring
- Text message
Insights:
- The EU's General Court has declared the European Commission's decision to deny access to text messages between Ursula von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla invalid
- The court found that the Commission did not provide a credible explanation for withholding the texts
- The ruling is significant as it emphasizes that ephemeral electronic communications, such as text messages, are subject to public scrutiny and transparency obligations under EU law
- The decision could have far-reaching implications for future contract negotiations involving the EU and big pharma companies
- The ruling further raises questions about transparency and President von der Leyen's leadership style, particularly regarding the secretive handling of the vaccine deal.
- The EU's General Court in Luxembourg has declared the European Commission's decision to withhold text messages between Ursula von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla invalid, highlighting the need for transparency and public scrutiny of ephemeral electronic communications.
- The New York Times is hailing the ruling as a significant victory for transparency and accountability in the European Union, as it sets a powerful precedent that authorities can no longer simply claim they don't have certain documents if they can be proven to exist.
- The ruling comes amidst ongoing concerns about transparency in the European Commission's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, with delays in vaccine deliveries and an investigation by the European Public Prosecutor's Office into billion-dollar vaccine purchases.
