Von der Leyen to face EU Parliament's no-confidence vote over "Pfizergate"

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the entire European Commission will be personally present at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on July 7, where a vote of no confidence against her will be discussed over her alleged role in a corruption case regarding the COVID-19 vaccine procurement by the European body.

The confirmation of her presence was published by Russian media outlets, citing the statement made by the Head of the European Commission’s press service, Paola Pinho, during a briefing in Brussels.

“President von der Leyen will be in Strasbourg and will personally attend Monday’s discussion,” she said, further confirming that the entire college of the European Commission will convene for the session.

While many experts believe that the vote is mainly symbolic, seeing as the majority of political groups have already communicated that they will vote against the motion of no confidence, it will be the first time since 2014 that a Commission president has been challenged by such a motion and points to Brussel's growing anger with her following a string of controversial moves and scandals.

In November 2024, the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg began hearings on a case, dubbed "Pfizergate", 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.

As reported earlier by Caliber.Az, von der Leyen has been accused of negotiating a substantial vaccine purchase — prior to the completion of trials — via text messages with 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 against the former German Defence Minister is ongoing in Liège, Belgium, concerning von der Leyen's role in awarding the vaccine procurement contract. In May 2025, the Belgian tribunal began examining a lawsuit alleging irregularities in the Pfizer vaccine procurement process, also worth €35 billion.

By Nazrin Sadigova