Von der Leyen’s secret texts with Pfizer CEO under scrutiny at EU court

The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg has begun hearings on a case involving text message exchanges between European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla concerning the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines for EU member states during the pandemic.

This information is detailed on the court's website, Caliber.Az reports via TASS.

Court documents explain that the case stems from a complaint by The New York Times, which had requested access to the correspondence between von der Leyen and Bourla but was denied. The European Commission argued that the text messages did not qualify as official documents that needed to be archived and therefore could not be retrieved.

"The European Commission, in the contested decision, ruled without justification that the requested information did not exist, contradicting the statements of the EC President without any substantiated basis, which constitutes maladministration," the court documents highlight, outlining The New York Times' claims.

Furthermore, The New York Times accuses the European Commission of infringing on the right to information. "By using an extralegal argument based on Article 7, the European Commission unlawfully repealed Regulation No 1049/2001, particularly Article 3(a), by classifying the unarchived text messages as non-compliant with the regulation’s criteria and/or by failing to apply Article 3(a) to the requested information, thereby violating the fundamental right to access information protected under Article 11 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union," the case materials state.

A ruling from the court is expected in several months.

The existence of von der Leyen's text exchanges first surfaced in 2021 through The New York Times, prompting calls from politicians and Members of the European Parliament for the European Commission to disclose the correspondence to ensure adherence to EU rules on transparency and procurement processes. Although the EC admitted that contracts with Pfizer were discussed via text messages, it has consistently refused to release the content, claiming the messages were "mistakenly deleted."

Critics have accused von der Leyen of negotiating a substantial vaccine purchase — prior to the completion of trials — via text messages with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, without prior approval from EU member states. The controversy centres on a deal involving 1.8 billion doses of Pfizer's vaccine, valued at €35 billion.

A parallel case is ongoing in Liège, Belgium, concerning von der Leyen's role in awarding the vaccine procurement contract. In May, the Belgian tribunal began examining a lawsuit alleging irregularities in the Pfizer vaccine procurement process, also worth €35 billion. The session was held behind closed doors, and von der Leyen did not attend, opting to send legal representatives in her place.

The first session focused on procedural matters, specifically whether the Belgian court has jurisdiction over the case, given that the alleged violations occurred on Belgian soil, or whether the case should be transferred to the European Public Prosecutor's Office. This office was established in 2021 at von der Leyen’s initiative to investigate potential misuse of EU funds.

By Tamilla Hasanova