A court in Brussels has rejected a Belgian lobbyist’s urgent application against a second term for European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Frédéric Baldan “has not proven that there is a risk of serious harm,” the court said on Wednesday.
Baldan had accused the EU politician of negotiating a secret vaccine deal with Pfizer boss Albert Bourla “without any mandate” during the corona pandemic (see video about the deal above).
In addition, the CDU politician says that he “destroyed public documents” that were supposed to prove the agreements. A journalist unsuccessfully asked the committee to release text messages between von der Leyen and Bourla. However, the Brussels government said it had not archived the text messages.
The procedure for lack of transparency is still ongoing
The court on Wednesday classified the allegations as insufficient to warrant “an immediate decision.” Various proceedings are already underway in Belgium and at EU level due to a “suspected lack of transparency by the European Commission” during the corona pandemic, it was said.
For example, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the purchase of the corona vaccines due to ‘extremely high public interest’. The European Commission has purchased millions of doses for the Member States. The contracts with the manufacturers and the costs have never been made public.
Re-election could take place in July
Ursula von der Leyen is expected to be nominated by EU leaders for a second term at the head of the Commission. However, an absolute majority in the European Parliament is still needed. The earliest possible election date is between 16 and 19 July in Strasbourg.
Source: Krone
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