The New York Times has decided to take the European Commission to court for failing to publicly disclose the exchange of messages between President Ursula von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla regarding the negotiation that led to the purchase of doses. Vaccine for Covid. The newspaper argues that the Commission has an obligation to make the messages public in the name of transparency because the messages may contain useful information about the purchase of billions of dollars of vaccine doses. Politico brings him back.
Investigation
The New York Times avoided further comment, limiting itself to issuing a statement: “We are making multiple requests for access to documents in the public interest – it says so – this time we cannot comment on the central issue of the case”. The charges against von der Leyen for her involvement with Pfizer date back to April 2021, when the New York Times revealed, based on an investigation by neztpolitik.org, that Albert, the chairman of the Commission and CEO of the US multinational, emerged. . Bourla had supplied 1.8 billion doses of an anti-Covid vaccine via “calls and text messages”.
So, Emily O’Reilly, the European mediator who asked for access to confidential conversations, intervened. The Commission said it could not find the text messages that the EU executive chief and a number of Pfizer exchanged. Transparency Commissioner Vera Jourovà explained that the messages may have been deleted due to their “temporary nature”. The European Parliament was also involved, precisely through the Covi commission created to analyze Brussels’ work, including vaccine purchases during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Pressure from Parliament
Members of the European Parliament asked von der Leyen and Bourla to attend the hearing, but so far neither have attended committee meetings. “This is not a private matter, but a matter of transparency, which is fundamental to understanding the choices underlying the European vaccine strategy and whether these choices are made with full respect for the rights and interests of citizens,” Italian MP Rosa D attacked. Amato is from the Greens/EFA group. D’Amato, along with other lawmakers, requested that Pfizer executives and lobbyists be suspended from entry to EU institutions until Bourla agreed to go to a hearing in the commission.
Last October, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office announced that it had launched an investigation into the purchase of Covid-19 vaccines after a report from the EU Court of Auditors raised many doubts about the management of the negotiation between Brussels and Pfizer. According to the findings from the European budget control body, the head of the Commission would personally deal with the pharmaceutical company without involving the negotiating group in which the states were represented, and would also refuse to respond to the Court’s requests for clarification.
Status of her husband Heiko
In November 2022, MEP D’Amato submitted a question to the Commission asking for clarification on the involvement of the chairman’s husband, Heiko von der Leyen, in a research project on mRna vaccines (technology used by German BioNTech). Pfizer for anti-Covid drugs). The project, financed by Italy with 320 million euros from Pnrr, the EU’s post-pandemic recovery plan, includes the participation of the US biotechnology company Orgenesis, of which Heiko von der Leyen is the science director. After the discussion, the wife of the EU leader resigned from her role in the project.
These debates complicate von der Leyen’s re-election race as EU executive head, although no explanation has been given by the Commission on the matter. The European elections will be held in May 2024, and the current president already has to deal with the internal rivalry of another German, his party colleague and the leader of the European People’s Party, Manfred Weber, who is allegedly trying to steer the moderate EU towards the EU. The Poles of PiS and Vktor Orban are to the right of Giorgia Meloni. A strategy against the grand coalition of social democrats, liberals and greens on which the so-called Ursula majority is based.
Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
