A Belgian lobbyist wants to legally prevent EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen from running for a second term. He therefore filed an emergency application against her vaccine deal, which the politician had negotiated with the Pfizer boss during the corona pandemic.
This happened “without any mandate” from the member states, according to Frédéric Baldan’s application. He even accuses the EU leader of “destroying public documents” that would prove the agreements. For example, a journalist asked in vain for the text message between von der Leyen and Pfizer boss Bourla. The Brussels government said at the time that it had not archived the text messages.
Decision before June 27
The Belgian’s lawyer called on the conservative European People’s Party (EPP) to withdraw its support for Von der Leyen. The party group, to which the ÖVP also belongs, initially did not comment when asked. With top candidate Von der Leyen, she became the strongest force in the European elections. In any case, diplomats expect the former German defense minister to receive broad support at the summit next week.
The responsible judge said at the end of the hearing that a decision on the application would be made “before June 27”. That would be before the start of the EU summit, where Von der Leyen will remain at the top for another five years.
Costs unknown
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office is currently investigating the purchase of the corona vaccines due to the ‘extremely high public interest’. The Commission bought millions of doses of vaccines for Member States during the pandemic, but the contracts with manufacturers and costs were never made public.
Source: Krone
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