Von der Leyen Commission loses COVID vaccine transparency case ahead of crucial vote

euronews (in English)

Von der Leyen's Commission has lost a controversial vaccines contracts transparency case on the eve of a crucial vote in the European Parliament to confirm her nomination as Commission President.

Transcript

00:00The European Commission has not given the public sufficient access to its contracts

00:05to purchase vaccines against COVID-19, according to the EU Court of Justice.

00:11The missing information concerns in particular declarations of absence of conflict of interest

00:16and compensation.

00:18Coincidentally, the long-awaited verdict was delivered the day before the vote in the European

00:24Parliament in Strasbourg to elect the presidency of the Commission.

00:29A crucial vote for Ursula von der Leyen, who is running for a second mandate.

00:35The Commission has responded that it grants in general wide access to documents under

00:39transparency rules.

00:42According to the court, the Commission should have provided more justifications for its

00:47refusal to grant access to certain provisions in the contract.

00:53So it's very much an issue of justification, I would say, rather than one of substance.

01:01According to the court, the purchase of vaccines on behalf of the 27 member states allowed

01:05the bloc to quickly disperse 2.7 billion euros to place an order for more than 1 billion

01:10doses of vaccines.

01:13The court has been criticized by MEPs and individuals.

01:16They lamented that the Commission only provided them with partial access to certain contracts.

01:23The NGO Transparency International, which fights corruption worldwide, did applaud

01:28the verdict in principle.

01:29In general, it's very good news for transparency and ethics at the European level.

01:35It's a shame that we have to wait for the decision of the Court and that the Commission

01:42has not ensured transparency and given access in advance.

01:46We hope that the Court's decision will encourage the Commission to be more transparent

01:53and proactive in the future.

01:55Another case about SMS exchanges between Ursula von der Leyen and the CEO of Pfizer over COVID-19

02:02vaccine orders is still ongoing.

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