The reinstatement of Ursula von der Leyen, uncertain after a decision of the EU Court

The reinstatement of Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission, which would take place today in the European Parliament, is uncertain after the decision of the Court of the European Union yesterday regarding the transparency of the documents that formed the basis of the conclusion of the European agreement for the purchase of vaccines against -Covid and related contracts. The decision came in a case where Margrete Auken, Tilly Metz, Jutta Paulus, Emilie Mosnier (as successor to Michèle Rivasi) and Kimberly van Sparrentak challenged the European Commission's refusal to grant them full access to procurement contracts of anti-Covid 19 vaccines.

According to the sentence given yesterday by the institution based in Luxembourg, "The Commission did not provide the public with sufficiently broad access to the contracts for the purchase of vaccines against Covid-19 and regarding the members of the negotiation team for the purchase of these vaccines".

With regard to the protection of the privacy of individuals invoked by the European Commission to deny access to the names of the members of the negotiation team of those contracts, in order to verify whether or not they were in conflict of interest, the Court of the European Union considers that the plaintiffs have demonstrated in accordingly the public interest of the disclosure of the personal data of the members of the negotiation team.

The court says: "Indeed, only in possession of the first and last name and their professional or institutional role, the plaintiffs could have verified that the members in question were not in a situation of conflict of interest. In addition, the Commission did not sufficiently take into account all the relevant circumstances in order to correctly balance the interests involved, related to the absence of a conflict of interest and the risk of damage to the private life of the persons concerned".

The Court of the European Union recalls that in 2020 and 2021 contracts for the purchase of Covid-19 vaccines were concluded between the Commission and the large pharmaceutical companies, moreover, the Community Executive paid 2.7 billion euros to place a firm order for over a billion doses of vaccine. In 2021, several MEPs and individuals requested, under the European Regulation on access to documents, access to these contracts and certain documents related to them in order to understand the terms and conditions of their conclusion and to ensure that the public interest is protected . As the European Commission only provided partial access to these documents, which were posted online in redacted versions, the MEPs concerned and individuals filed requests to have them annulled at the General Court of the European Union. In its ruling, the Tribunal partially admitted the challenges raised and annulled the Commission's illegal decisions regarding the transparency of certain information.

Unfortunately, the Court of Justice of the European Union claims that the contractual provisions regarding the compensation by the member states of the vaccinated people who had adverse reactions, instead of the compensation being paid by the pharmaceutical companies, do not violate the European provisions.

"The court emphasizes that the manufacturer is responsible for the damage caused by a defect in its product and the manufacturer's liability cannot be limited or excluded towards the victim by a clause limiting or exonerating liability under Directive 85/374. However, it finds that no provision of Directive 85/374 prohibits a third party from reimbursing damages that a manufacturer would have paid due to the defect in its product," reads a press release published on the website Court of Justice of the European Union.

Regarding the decision of the General Court of the European Union, the Commission issued a press release stating that it will study the court's decision, that it has provided the European Parliament (under the Framework Agreement on relations between the two institutions) with full information on the COVID vaccine contracts -19 and that only the Community Executive is responsible for ensuring the absence of any conflict of interest, having the obligation to ensure the confidentiality of the personal data of the persons concerned.