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.
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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.