BRUSSELS — Ursula von der Leyen publicly defended herself for the first time over text messages she exchanged with a vaccine chief at the height of Covid-19 — describing some accusations against her as “simply a lie.”
The European Commission president was hauled in front of MEPs in Strasbourg as part of a debate ahead of Thursday’s no-confidence vote. While there’s almost no chance she’ll lose that, the fact it’s happening at all is indicative of growing opposition.
Much of the opprobrium at von der Leyen’s door has focused on “Pfizergate.” An EU court ruled in May that the Commission was wrong to block access to secret messages, which she exchanged with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla before a multibillion euro vaccine deal.
“It is no secret that I was in contact with top representatives of the companies producing the vaccines that would get us out of the crisis … just as I sought advice from the best epidemiologists or virologists in the world,” she told the European Parliament on Monday.
While the Commission had argued that the texts were too boring to warrant being released, the case became a flashpoint for transparency activists and right-wing groups. They argued that it demonstrated von der Leyen’s Commission was a particularly unaccountable one.
“The implication that these contracts were somehow inappropriate against the European interests is, by any measure, simply wrong,” von der Leyen said.
No secrets, no hidden clauses
The debate of no-confidence in von der Leyen — the first for a Commission president since 2014 — was triggered by right-wing Romanian MEP, Gheorghe Piperea, over the Pfizergate scandal.
But von der Leyen was unrepentant, sticking to the Commission’s previous line and without giving any additional information on what was actually included within texts ― which we still may never see.
“Contract negotiations were conducted by the Commission and member states together,” she said. “Every single contract negotiated was examined in detail in the capitals before being signed by each of the 27 member states.
“There were no secrets, no hidden clauses, no obligation to buy for member states.”
She told lawmakers that “all 27 member states decided to buy vaccines on their own will, so any claims that any member state did not know about the contracts, about the prices or the amounts, is dishonest.
“In fact, let’s call it by its name. It is simply a lie.”
Von der Leyen also accused those who have criticized the Commission about the text messages of “spinning debunked conspiracies.”
Additional reporting by Max Griera and Nick Vinocur.
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