It’s a scandal that never goes away, and it creates more intrigue than answers.
The EU public prosecutor’s office on Friday said it was investigating the EU’s purchase of a coronavirus vaccine at the peak of the pandemic. Nothing was disclosed as to why, what potential crimes they were looking for, or why they were taking action now.
Enter the Brussels speculation machine. Best Chatter: Text by Ursula von der Leyen.
It has been months since the European Commission president admitted she exchanged texts with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourra while the EU was negotiating a vaccine deal with Pfizer. The pressure was on. Two EU watchdogs have already reprimanded her, angered by the European Commission’s refusal to produce a text on the issue.
But is the European Public Prosecutor’s Office investigating the matter? So far, we have no way of knowing.
In the meantime, POLITICO analyzes what this means for von der Leyen and the EU, and finds out what (or who) else is in the EU prosecutor’s crosshairs.
how did this start?
In April 2021, von der Leyen told The New York Times that he exchanged texts with Pfizer’s CEO in the month leading up to the EU signing a deal with the US pharmaceutical giant.
In the deal, the European Commission committed to buy 900 million Pfizer-BioNTech shots on behalf of EU Member States, with an option to buy another 900 million.
Why did this bother people?
The remark sparked debate as to whether von der Leyen had gone freelance during contract negotiations and bypassed his usual route.
Journalists requested access to the texts, only to be told there was no record of such messages.
However, the EU Ombudsman later clarified that the European Commission had never explicitly asked von der Leyen’s team to look for the texts. In a report on its findings, the Ombudsman labeled this approach “poor management.”
The committee countered that the text could not be provided because “short-lived and temporary documents are not kept”.
Another EU oversight body, the European Court of Auditors, later conducted its own investigation. The agency has discovered that von der Leyen intervened in early negotiations with Pfizer, setting aside the usual negotiating team and personally hammering out a preliminary deal.
“We have asked the European Commission to provide us with information on the preliminary negotiations of this agreement,” the Court of Auditors wrote in its report. “But nothing came.”
A Pfizer official told the European Parliament last week that the company did not negotiate the vaccine contract by text message. It is not clear what politically sensitive decisions were made in these important preliminary negotiations, for which there is no record.
So what do we know about whether EU prosecutors are looking into this?
Unfortunately, there aren’t that many.
Interesting timing, but EU prosecutors are very likely investigating one of the many vaccine contracts the EU has signed, as well as other officials inside and outside the Commission.
One factor to consider is that the EU prosecutor’s mandate is to investigate misuse of EU funds. And most vaccines were ultimately paid for by EU member states, not her EU itself. However, €2.5 billion in EU funding was used to cover some of the initial costs of manufacturing the vaccine.
How bad could it be for von der Leyen?
Given that EU prosecutors are investigating criminal cases specifically, it is hard to overemphasize how bad this would be for von der Leyen if he gets caught in an investigation. There is none. But again, no evidence so far.
On Monday, a spokesman for the commission said it had “not yet received any information on this topic.”
Nevertheless, the issue is potentially toxic to von der Leyen, given his involvement in similar scandals when he was Germany’s defense minister.
During an investigation into Germany’s awarding of lucrative defense contracts during his tenure as minister, it emerged that data had been wiped from von der Leyen’s phone, preventing its use in the investigation.
Investigators acquitted von der Leyen in the case, but she said the German parliamentary inquiry had “learned a lesson”.
Von der Leyen is also familiar with the world of medicine. Her husband, Heiko, is a director of the US biotechnology company Orgenesis, and she is a trained physician.
Who else?
Albanian Prime Minister Eddi Rama caused controversy earlier this month when he admitted that Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio had broken vaccine contract rules and vaccinated Albania for humanitarian reasons early in the pandemic.
However, as the vaccine was purchased with Italian funds, this appears to be outside the EU prosecutor’s mandate, and the donation does not appear to meet the “very high public interest” standard referred to by EPPO.
what’s next?
Perhaps a lot of silence from EU prosecutors and a lot of rumors in Brussels — until investigators clarify (or journalists clarify more).
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