BRUSSELS, May 14. /TASS/. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) found Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, liable for withholding information on the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines in 2021-2023.
"The General Court upholds the action," the judgement reads. The New York Times filed a lawsuit against von der Leyen in 2023, when the newspaper claimed that the Commission president rejected an application requesting access to text messages exchanged between her and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla on a vaccine contract worth more than 30 billion euros.
While the court decision does not define the scope of von der Leyen’s responsibility or impose any disciplinary or penal measures against her, it may trigger new cases against the Commission chief with more serious accusations. Or else, an appeal against the latest verdict may be brought by the Commission’s lawyers.
In January, a court in Liege, with active support from the EU’s prosecutors, dismissed another lawsuit against von der Leyen. The case, filed by Belgian activist Frederic Baldan, drew support from some 1,000 individuals and public organizations. While the defendants, mostly EU residents incapacitated by COVID-19 vaccines or the relatives of those who died as a result of side effects of vaccines that did not undergo any clinical trials, accused von der Leyen of abusing power and of corruption, the Liege court upheld the argument from the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) that she is immune from similar court trials.
The EPPO is the bloc’s legal arm, directly accountable to the European Commission.