Overview

• The EU General Court annulled the European Commission's refusal to disclose text messages between Ursula von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla from critical COVID-19 vaccine negotiations.
• The court found the Commission's explanations for not possessing the messages to be based on assumptions or imprecise information, lacking credible justification.
• The Commission announced it will carefully review the ruling and adopt a new decision providing more detailed reasoning on the status of the requested messages.
• The ruling emphasizes that all institutional documents, including transient communications like SMS, are subject to EU transparency rules unless convincingly justified otherwise.
• The case, referred to as 'Pfizergate,' raises questions about transparency and could have political implications for von der Leyen's leadership style and accountability.