The American New York Times daily and his journalist Matina Stevi filed a complaint about the EC, who in 2022 unsuccessfully demanded access to SMSs in which Ursula von der Leyen and the head of Pfizer Albert Bourla were to set details about the purchase of vaccines by the EU. Under this agreement, concluded in May 2021, the EC reserved 1.8 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccine for EU countries.
In its judgment, the EU court (lower instance of the CJEU) annulled the EC's decision to refuse access to SMSs, as requested in the complaint of “NYT” and a journalist. He decided that the EC had not proved that he no longer had these messages. In the opinion of the judges from Luxembourg, the EC did not explain why she decided that SMSs were so invalid that she decided not to archive them.
Judgment is not finalEC can appeal against it.
CJEU. EC explanations “unbelievable”
In response to the judgment, the Commission announced that he would familiarize himself with him and decide on the next steps. “For this purpose, the EC will accept a new decision containing a more detailed explanation,” she said. “Transparency was always of great importance for the committee and chairman von der Leyen. We will continue to strictly follow the solid legal framework to enforce our obligations, “it was written in a statement.
Stevi and “NYT” demanded that the EC access access to text messages pursuant to the regulation on access to documents. Refusing access to SMSs, the EC claimed that They were not archived because they did not contain relevant information. In the opinion of the EU Court, the journalist and the newspaper employing it presented significant, coherent circumstantial evidence indicating that the Commission has access to information.
The EU court noticed that in such a situation, the EC could not stop at the statement that it does not have them. “The EC did not explain to it sufficiently whether the requested text messages were deleted and whether in this case the removal took place voluntarily or automatically or whether the mobile phone of the chairman was mentioned meanwhile” – emphasized judges from Luxembourg.
According to them, the EC “she did not explain in a reliable way“, why did she conclude that SMSs von der Leyen do not contain significant details and should not be stored.
Pfizergate. Von der Leyen set the details of the purchase of vaccines by SMS
The scandal regarding the contract for the purchase of EU vaccines broke out in April 2021. The editorial office of New York Times at that time revealed that the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen carried out an order for 1.8 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccine via SMS exchanged with the head of Pfizer Albert Bourl.
Lawyers representing the EC that in von der Leyen in a private exchanging SMS with the head of Pfizer did not negotiate on the purchase of vaccines, but only set side issues, such as the place and time of meetings. Therefore, these messages have not been considered important enough to archive them.
The judgment of the CJEU is an image problem for the head of the EC and another reason for criticism for her political opponents. A few months ago, during a speech in the European Parliament, when a German woman applied for a second term of office, She assured how important transparency is for her.