Pfizergate refers to a scandal involving European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer over the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines. The controversy centers on the lack of transparency in the communication and negotiation processes for purchasing a significant number of vaccine doses during the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]
In February 2021, the situation in the European Union due to the pandemic was worsening, as the lockdown continued, people kept dying, and the union's biggest vaccine supplier, AstraZeneca, was having production problems, which caused a shortage of doses. Shortly afterwards, it was announced that the EU was about to sign a deal with Pfizer worth €35 billion to provide 900 million doses of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine through 2023, with an additional 900 million doses available for purchase.[2]
On the 28th of April 2021, as the deal was about to be finalized, the The New York Times reported that Ursula von der Leyen had personally negotiated the deal via a series of text messages and calls with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, describing it as "a striking alignment of political survival and corporate hustle".[2] [3]
Throughout the Summer of 2021, the German news website Netzpolitik.org requested access to these messages, but the request was refused. Afterwards, they turned to the European Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly, who opened an investigation on the 16th of September. She too was refused access to the messages, with the Commission claiming they had no obligation to conserve the messages. This statements led the Ombudsman to file a complaint in January 2022, accusing them of maladministration and urging the EU executive to "conduct a more thorough search for relevant messages". In response, EU Transparency Commissioner Věra Jourová said the search for text messages between von der Leyen and Bourla "did not yield any results". Finally, on the 12th of July 2022, the Ombudsman severely criticized the Commission and, against that background, confirmed her finding of maladministration.[1] [4] [5]
Later, in October, the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO), an independent EU body responsible for investigating and prosecuting financial crimes, exceptionally confirmed that it had an ongoing investigation into the acquisition of COVID-19 vaccines in the European Union.[3] [6] In the same month, Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas stated in defense of the Commission that "the handling of this access to documents request leaves the regrettable impression of an EU institution that is not forthcoming on matters of significant public interest", adding that "nobody can negotiate the complexity of these contracts, by SMS or alone. This was a very well-structured procedure between the member states and the Commission".[5]
In January 2023, lawmakers in the Parliament's special committee on COVID-19 proposed to invite von der Leyen to answer questions on the contract. However, in February, the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament refused the request to hold a public grilling. Instead they decided to ask von der Leyen to answer questions in private at some point in the future.[7]
In April 2023, Frédéric Baldan, a Belgian lobbyist specializing in EU-China trade relation, filed a lawsuit against von der Leyen before a Liège court, accusing her of usurping official powers, destroying public documents, pursuing illicit interests and committing corruption, and damaging his country's public finances. Shortly after, Baldan's lobbyist accreditation was withdrawn by the European Parliament.[3] [8]
In early May 2024, a few days before the hearing in Liège was supposed to take place, Baldan's lawyer, Diane Protat, visited the EPPO's offices in Brussels and Luxembourg to request a copy of its case file, but was she told that there was no such file and security was called on her. A a few days later, it was reported that Hungary and Poland had joined the lawsuit.[3] [9] By the end of the month, the plaintiff asked "the European People's Party to withdraw the candidacy of Ms von der Leyen for the post of President of the European Commission" as well as "prohibiting anyone from presenting the candidature of Mrs von der Leyen to the post of President of the European Commission or any other post within the European institutions as long as she is the subject of criminal proceedings".[8]
The central issue of this case is whether citizens should have access to documents, including ephemeral digital messages, that are integral to decision-making processes. This ruling could set a precedent for transparency within the EU, as the European Court of Justice would need to clarify what constitutes a document that citizens can request access to. It's also been suggested that a favorable ruling might prompt lawmakers to implement measures to protect high-level EU politicians from having to fully disclose their text messages.[10]
The term "Pfizergate" was also used after a report from the British Medical Journal raised concerns over the data integrity and regulatory oversight of the Pfizer vaccine trials.[11] [12]