Four years ago, the continent’s second-highest court found the European Commission lacking in transparency regarding the COVID-19 vaccination contracts.
Certain European parliamentarians have criticized the Commission’s handling of the multibillion-euro contracts. They are upset that Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla did not disclose text conversations pertaining to one of the contracts. According to the Commission, she failed to retain the messages.
In order to better understand the conditions and contracts, many parliamentarians from the European Parliament requested access to the documents. However, the Commission only granted limited access and redacted portions of the records, citing the need to safeguard commercial interests and the decision-making process.
The General Court of Luxembourg agreed with their assessment and ruled that the European Commission had been negligent in withholding information on the COVID-19 vaccine procurement agreements it had made with pharmaceutical companies during the epidemic. The epidemic revealed the lack of openness in vaccine talks between the European Union and significant pharmaceutical companies. The member nations entrusted the commission with the responsibility of coordinating vaccine procurement and negotiating with producers.
In 2021, a few EP members demanded all agreement information, but the commission only granted partial access, with some contracts and documents made available online in redacted variations. The company also declined to provide the exact amount it paid for the massive quantity of dosages it acquired, citing confidentiality concerns in the contracts as an excuse. The court found that the commission did not prove that the pharmaceutical firms’ financial interests would have been negatively affected by disclosing the agreements’ terms about their indemnity in the case of a vaccine failure.
The Green Party MPs who initiated the lawsuit expressed their hope that the next panel, whose members will be chosen later this year, will be more forthcoming with the information it demands. Thanks to this decision, the commission is anticipated to engage in more collaborative procurements in sectors like health and military going forward.
