European Commission Faces Court Criticism Over COVID Vaccine Contract Transparency Ahead Of Vote on Ursula Von Der Leyen's Reappointment

The European Commission faced criticism from Europe’s second-highest court regarding transparency issues surrounding COVID-19 vaccine contracts from four years ago.

This scrutiny comes on the eve of a crucial vote on Commission head Ursula von der Leyen‘s reelection bid.

Some European lawmakers have been vocal about their dissatisfaction with how the Commission handled its multibillion-euro contracts, particularly its failure to disclose text messages between von der Leyen and Pfizer Inc PFE CEO Albert Bourla regarding one of the agreements.

In 2022, a Pfizer executive “categorically” ruled out that the pharma giant’s chief executive agreed on the European COVID-19 contract via mobile phone text messages.

The Commission contends that these messages were not retained.

During the height of the pandemic, the Commission secured agreements with several major companies for COVID vaccine supplies, including AstraZeneca Plc AZN, Sanofi SA SNY, GSK Plc GSK, Johnson & Johnson JNJ, BioNTech SE BNTX, Pfizer, and Moderna Inc MRNA.

Also Read: Emergent BioSolutions And Johnson & Johnson Resolve Claims Over COVID-19 Vaccine Manufacturing.

In response to requests from some members of the European Parliament for full access to these documents, Reuters noted that the Commission provided only partial access, citing the need to protect commercial interests and the decision-making process through redactions.

“The Commission did not give the public sufficiently wide access to the purchase agreements for COVID-19 vaccines,” they said.

The General Court in Luxembourg upheld the lawmakers’ challenge, although the Commission claimed partial success in defending certain contract clauses.

“In general, the Commission grants the widest possible public access to documents, in line with the principles of openness and transparency,” Reuters noted, citing the statement.

“In these cases, the Commission needed to strike a difficult balance between the right of the public, including MEPs (members of the European Parliament), to information, and the legal requirements emanating from the COVID-19 contracts themselves, which could result in claims for damages at the cost of taxpayers’ money.”

Meanwhile, the European Parliament is scheduled to vote on Thursday regarding von der Leyen’s candidacy for a second term amid ongoing scrutiny and legal challenges concerning transparency issues.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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