Court annuls European Commission's refusal to disclose COVID texts

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The European Commission did not provide credible reasons for rejecting a New York Times request to hand over text messages between its president and Pfizer's (PFE.N) CEO related to COVID-19 vaccine contracts, a court ruled on Wednesday.

Some EU lawmakers have criticised the Commission's handling of the deals signed the height of the pandemic, while good governance activists accuse the EU's executive body of a lack of transparency that could undermine trust in Europe's institutions.

The New York Times had requested access to text messages from Jan. 1, 2021 to May 11, 2022 between Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's and Pfizer's Albert Bourla in an effort to shed light on the multi-billion-euro vaccine deal.

The Commission rejected the request, saying von der Leyen had not kept them. It also said the messages did not qualify as EU documents eligible for freedom of information requests under transparency rules.

https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/ ... 025-05-14/