European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly, the EU’s top accountability and governance officer, launched an inquiry into the European Commission’s refusal to hand over the contents of communications between von der Leyen and a CEO of an unnamed pharmaceutical company about a Covid-19 vaccine contract.
As a first step, O’Reilly asked the Commission to explain its policy on keeping records of von der Leyen’s text messages. “The Commission has an obligation to record instant messages relating to important policy or political matters, such as the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines,” O’Reilly’s office wrote in a statement about the case.
Following a complaint, we have opened an inquiry into @EU_Commission‘s refusal to grant access to text messages between @vonderleyen and a multinational’s CEO about a #COVID19 vaccine contract.
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— European Ombudsman (@EUombudsman) September 17, 2021
