Covid-19: the “New York Times” takes legal action over text messages exchanged between Pfizer and Von der Leyen

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during a visit to a Pfizer laboratory in Puurs, Belgium, April 23, 2021. AP - John Thys

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

The American daily

takes the European Commission to court.

A judicial escalation after the refusal of the European executive to transmit text messages exchanged between its president, Ursula von der Leyen, and the CEO of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, Albert Bourla, during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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With our correspondent in Houston,

The European Commission, and in particular its President, Ursula von der Leyen, are in the crosshairs of the

.

The American newspaper targets the SMS that the leader exchanged with Albert Bourla, the CEO of Pfizer.

These messages could contain information on the purchase, by European states, of

.

As a reminder, the price of a dose was €19.50.

The

claims, before the European Court of Justice, that the Commission submits to the legal obligation to communicate these messages.

The American daily was the first media to reveal the affair, in April 2021, when the President of the European Commission had entrusted one of her journalists to exchange directly with the boss of Pfizer to obtain doses of vaccines in large quantities.

These text messages had already been requested by a journalist from the German investigative site

.

It was based on the right of European citizens to access any official document of the European Union, whatever the medium, as specified in the English version of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU*.

He had obtained a few letters, but never the text messages exchanged, the Commission arguing that they had disappeared, because of their ephemeral nature.

This is not the first legal action in this case.

The popular German daily

has in the past also attacked the Commission and obtained emails and documents relating to the negotiation of contracts for the sale of Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer/BioNtech and AstraZeneca.

But never SMS.

*

: Any citizen of the Union as well as any natural or legal person residing or having its registered office in a Member State has a right of access to the documents of the institutions, bodies and agencies of the Union, whatever their support.

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• Health and medicine

• Coronavirus

• European Union

• Ursula von der Leyen

• Vaccines

• International justice