The European Union (EU) Ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly, asked for a clear and transparent explanation regarding the exchange of messages between Ursula von der Leyen and the executive chairman of pharmaceutical Pfizer, Albert Bourla, given the negotiation between Brussels and Pfizer/BioNTech to acquire 1.8 billion doses of vaccines against Covid-19.
In April 2021, The New York Times reported that the President of the European Commission (EC), Ursula von der Leyen, had exchanged text messages with the CEO of the pharmaceutical company – Pfizer, Albert Bourla.
The action was questioned by a journalist who asked for public access to the messages, but the European Commission advanced that it did not have a record of them, as they are generally “short-lived” and, in principle, excluded from the conversation register.
“The European Commission’s rules do not say that one or another form of communication should be used. They say you have to keep documents when it comes to something of a substantial nature linked to the policies of the European Commission, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that all text messages or Whatsapp messages that are sent should be saved or stored”, said Eric Mamer, main spokesman for the European Commission, quoted by Euronews.
EU Ombudsman calls for transparency
The refusal to provide information gave rise to a complaint to the EU Ombudsman who asserted that the European Commission did not explicitly ask the EC President’s office to look for these text messages.
“The restricted way in which this public access request was handled meant that no attempt was made to identify whether any text messages existed. This falls short of reasonable expectations of transparency and administrative standards in the European Commission”, emphasized Emily O’Reilly, in a recently released analysis.
Emily O’Reilly added that “while it is neither feasible nor desirable for workers to record all texts and instant messages sent or received, EU administration is required by EU law to prepare and maintain documentation relating to their activities, to the possible extent and in a non-arbitrary and predictable way”.
Lack of transparency in the purchase of vaccines
Many questions remain as to how certain countries have been getting vaccine shipments faster than others. The European Union has stated that contracts with pharmaceutical companies have confidentiality clauses and therefore cannot disclose them.
For the EU Ombudsman, “this is more than just an exchange of text messages between [Ursula] von der Leyen and Pfizer,” she said. “The European Commission has become less transparent, less accountable to the European Parliament and frankly more out of control in relation to European democracy”.
