General Court: “European Commission cannot simply keep text messages with Pfizer CEO secret”

The European Commission’s decision to keep text messages between its President, Ursula von der Leyen, and the CEO of Pfizer secret from the public has been annulled.

The case revolves around text messages between von der Leyen and Albert Bourla, the CEO of Pfizer, about the purchase of 1.8 billion doses of the coronavirus vaccines.

These conversations took place between January 2021 and May 2022. Matina Stevi, a journalist from The New York Times, wanted to gain insight into this text traffic to find out how those conversations went. To do so, she requested the European Commission to provide access to all text messages exchanged between von der Leyen and Bourla.

The Commission rejected the request on the ground that it did not hold the documents covered by it. Stevi and The New York Times requested the General Court of the European Union to annul the Commission’s decision.

According to Dutch news outlet NOS, von der Leyen hadn’t categorized the text messages between her and Bourla as “important.” Therefore, they weren’t deemed relevant, and so the Commission didn’t have to hand over the messages.

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) disagrees and annuls the Commission’s decision.

The General Court argues that The New York Times has sufficiently demonstrated that the text messages exist and that the European Commission should therefore hand them over.

The Commission, on the other hand, has insufficiently proven why those documents cannot be found, and that there is no good reason why they could not be handed over.

In addition, it’s unclear whether the documents still exist or were deliberately deleted, the General Court says about the Commission’s response.

“The Commission has also failed to explain in a plausible manner why it considered that the text messages exchanged in the context of the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines did not contain important information or information involving follow-up the retention of which must be ensured,” the CJEU concludes.

The General Court’s verdict doesn’t mean that the European Commission has to publish the text messages between von der Leyen and Bourla immediately. It must reconsider the request and make a new decision, which could mean that The New York Times’ request will be rejected on other grounds.

The European Commission can also appeal the General Court’s ruling to the European Court of Justice.

In a statement, the Commission says it will closely study the General Court’s decision and decide on the next step.

“We will continue to strictly abide by the solid legal framework in place to enforce our obligations. We remain fully committed to maintaining openness, accountability, and clear communication with all stakeholders, including EU institutions, civil society, and interest representatives,” Von der Leyen promises.