The EU court forced the woman who imposed experimental vaccines on European citizens to reveal the whole contract, whose content she sought to keep hidden
The European Commission did not give the public “sufficiently wide access” to Covid-19 vaccine contracts, an EU court ruled on Wednesday — a day ahead of a decisive vote for Ursula von der Leyen.
The European General Court ruled that the Commission’s decision to redact sections of the agreements contained “irregularities.” It found that the Commission did not demonstrate that wider access to the contracts would undermine the commercial interests of the pharmaceutical companies.
The much-awaited ruling lands as von der Leyen prepares to deliver a speech on Thursday to reassure lawmakers, especially those who don’t really trust her, that she can lead Europe’s executive body for another term.
Von der Leyen needs to secure the support of 361 MEPs to be reconfirmed as president. The margins currently look slim.
The three centrist groups von der Leyen relied on in 2019 — her own European People’s Party, the Socialists and Democrats, and Renew — could technically give her a majority, but only if all these MEPs vote for her in the secret ballot.
Von der Leyen’s history on issues of transparency and collaboration across institutions remains a sticking point with many of the MEPs she’ll need, both to the right and left of her, to win the backing of an absolute majority.
In reality, von der Leyen is likely to have to rely on the support of another group: perhaps the Greens. And here, she may find trouble.
The case was brought forward by a group of MEPs from the Greens, who filed requests to get access to vaccine contracts and certain related documents to understand the agreement between the Commission and Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers in 2021.
The Commission only agreed to give partial access to certain contracts, arguing that some sections had been redacted to protect commercial interests or for privacy matters. The MEPs then took the Commission to court over the refusal.