Transparency and ethics: text message exchange between Ursula von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO – EU Commission answer

Brussels, 17 August 2022

See question(s) : E-000382/2022

EN
E-000382/2022
Answer given by Vice-President Jourová
on behalf of the European Commission
(17.8.2022)
The Commission is committed to high standards of transparency and has taken various steps to provide the widest possible transparency of the negotiations it held with companies for the purchase of vaccines, without nonetheless undermining them while the centralised procurement procedures were ongoing.
The importance of transparency in the process of vaccine procurement was specifically confirmed by the Commissioner for Health and Food Safety in her statement to the Plenary of the European Parliament¹. The Commission has regularly published information on the state of play of the negotiations. With respect to financing of the advance purchase agreements, it is publicly available information that it has financed a part of the upfront costs from the 2.7 billion Emergency Support Instrument².

The Commission has replied to numerous requests for access to documents under Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 on the topic since the outbreak of the pandemic, and has released a number of documents in this context. It has also published redacted versions of the contracts. With respect to the Ombudsman’s inquiry reported in the media, the Commission replied to the Recommendation from the European Ombudsman on 27 June 2022³.

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1 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/commissioners/2019-2024/kyriakides/announcements/statementcommissioner-kyriakides-plenary-european-parliament-transparency-purchase-well-access_en
2 https://ec.europa.eu/info/live-work-travel-eu/coronavirus-response/public-health/eu-vaccines-strategy_en
3 https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/doc/correspondence/en/157681

Source: Answer to a written question – Transparency and ethics in the EU: text message exchange between Ursula von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla – E-000382/2022(ASW)