In the latest development of the Pfizergate affair, the European Council has been called on to dismiss European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and all her Commissioners in a letter by the plaintiff who took the case to court.
The letter, seen by Euronews, was addressed to all 27 EU leaders as well as European People's Party (EPP) president Manfred Weber, and asked EU leaders to refer the matter to the Court of Justice.
The Court of Justice could then "order the compulsory resignation and forfeiture of pension rights not only of von der Leyen but also of all the European Commissioners who make up her Commission," the letter reads.
The case – commonly known as 'Pfizergate' – concerns the undisclosed text messages von der Leyen exchanged with Pfizer’s CEO Albert Bourla in 2021 to negotiate a huge vaccine contract during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Serious misconduct
In June 2023, Frédéric Baldan (a Belgian lobbyist specialising in trade relations between the EU and China) lodged a case demanding von der Leyen's dismissal before the General Court of Justice of the EU over her refusal to disclose the messages. In addition to her dismissal, he is also seeking €100,000 in damages for his "loss of confidence" in the European institutions.
In the letter, the plaintiff also asked the EPP to withdraw von der Leyen's candidacy for the position of European Commission President "or any other post within the European institutions" as long as she is the subject of criminal proceedings.
The request was based on two articles in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU): Article 245 about actions incompatible with their duties, and Article 247 about serious misconduct.
Following Baldan's criminal complaint, the Belgian authorities started the proceedings in early 2023, after which the Hungarian and Polish Governments also joined the lawsuit.
European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen pictured during the European Council summit, 17 April 2024 in Brussels. Credit: Belga/Nicolas Maeterlinck
In the letter, the plaintiff also pointed out that von der Leyen kept "stubbornly refusing to disclose contracts for the purchase of Covid vaccines" and "electronic messages she exchanged with Mr Bourla, CEO of Pfizer."
Additionally, her actions offended "public morality" and "shatter the legitimate confidence that citizens should be able to have in all members of the European Commission," it added.
"It is clear that von der Leyen and the members of her Commission are no longer in a position to perform their duties," the letter said. This, it argued, "violates the principle of good administration provided for in Article 41 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights."
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Additionally, the involvement of the EU's Prosecutor Office (EPPO) – which asked to take on the case – was called into question. Baldan believes that the aim of the EPPO move was to "declare all the civil parties, in this case, to be null and void, and therefore to annul the entire investigation."
He added that the office might no longer even have the necessary funds to complete its investigations by the end of this year.
