In brief
The General Court's decision highlights the importance of disclosing communications between E.U. officials and pharmaceutical executives.
In a landmark ruling that underscores the significance of transparency within the European Union (E.U.), judges ruled on Wednesday that a journalist's request for text messages related to Covid-19 vaccine negotiations should not have been denied. This case, spearheaded by The New York Times against the European Commission, was examined in Luxembourg by the General Court — the E.U.'s second-highest court. The central issue of the case revolved around text messages exchanged between Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, and Pfizer’s CEO, Albert Bourla, during the negotiation of a Covid-19 vaccine contract in 2021. The European Commission had previously argued that these brief communications were “short-lived” and therefore did not fall under the obligations for disclosure and transparency inherent in E.U. law.However, the court rejected this argument, commenting that the commission had failed to convincingly explain why such important documents could not be located. “The commission cannot merely state that it does not hold the requested documents but must provide credible explanations enabling the public and the court to understand why those documents cannot be found,” the judges noted.They also criticized the commission for inadequately justifying its position that the text messages did not contain significant information regarding the vaccine procurement process. This ruling could set a precedent for future demands for transparency concerning communication between government officials and corporations, particularly in decisions impacting public health.
