Overview

• The EU General Court annulled the European Commission's decision to deny access to SMS exchanged between Ursula von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla during vaccine negotiations.
• The court criticized the Commission for failing to provide credible explanations about the existence or retrieval efforts of the requested messages.
• The Commission must now issue a new decision with detailed clarification on its document retention and search practices in response to the ruling.
• This case, dubbed 'Pfizergate,' has raised questions about von der Leyen's leadership style and the transparency of her governance during her second term.
• The ruling sets a precedent for media access to ephemeral communications within EU institutions, potentially influencing future transparency debates.