A Belgian lawyer is advocating for a second term for EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, despite there being no legal means to prevent it. An urgent application was discussed in a Brussels court by lobbyist Frédéric Baldan, who accuses von der Leyen of negotiating a secret vaccine deal with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla during the Corona pandemic without a mandate from member states. Baldan also accuses the EU Commission President of destroying public documents that prove the agreements. Requests to release cell phone text messages between von der Leyen and Bourla were denied by Brussels authorities, stating that they had not archived the messages.
At the conclusion of the court hearing, the judge declared that a decision on the application would be made before June 27, prior to the EU summit. During the summit, heads of state and government will discuss the possibility of von der Leyen serving another five years at the helm of the Commission. The Belgian’s lawyer, Diane Protat, called on conservative European People’s Party (EPP) to withdraw its support for von der Leyen, but EPP did not comment on matter when asked.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office is conducting an investigation into the purchase of corona vaccines due to high public interest in this matter. Contracts with vaccine manufacturers and associated costs were never made public during pandemic times. Despite this scrutiny diplomats anticipate that von der Leyen will receive broad support at summit raising questions about transparency and accountability in EU’s vaccine procurement process
