“There were exchanges by SMS to organize oral exchanges. We do not negotiate in extenso by SMS,” he added.
The lawyer cited an example of an exchange: “this is what Albert Bourla may have said: +we need to talk. OK. At 6:00 a.m. CET+”.
Should we impose the wearing of masks in hospitals as in France? “Currently, we are in code green”
He also explained that the Commission services requested to find these exchanges in 2022 had contacted Ms von der Leyen’s office. Without winning the case. “The firm responded that they were unable to locate these documents.”
“The European Commission has never denied that there had been interactions between Ursula von der Leyen and Albert Bourla. The link between these text messages and the discussion on vaccine agreements is missing,” insisted Miguel Buron Perez .
The hearing gave rise to lively exchanges, with the American daily’s lawyer accusing the Commission of having “violated the principles of good administration and communication” by neglecting the importance of these SMS messages.
“This case raises a very important question: can those responsible escape public transparency by exchanging by SMS?” asked this lawyer, Bondine Kloostra.
The revelation in 2021 by the New York Times of the existence of text messages exchanged between Albert Bourla and the President of the European Commission sparked heated controversy. The American pharmaceutical laboratory Pfizer was then the largest supplier of anti-Covid vaccines ordered by the European Union.
The New York Times requested access to the text messages exchanged under freedom of information. The daily newspaper is based on a 2001 European regulation relating to public access to documents from the three major EU institutions (Commission, Council and Parliament).
The EU court’s decision will not be issued for several weeks or even months.
