Audit: EC hideshow the contract for 1.8 billion doses of vaccines with Pfizer was concluded

  

Audit: EC hideshow the contract for 1.8 billion doses of vaccines with Pfizer was concluded

EDITOR'S PICK

13.09.2022

Author:Objectively

 

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the EC, photo: Stephanie Lecocq/EPA/AP

The European Court of Auditors has published  a report accusing the European Commission (EC) of refusing to disclose details of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's personal role in negotiations for the biggest contract for 1.8 billion doses of Pfizer's vaccine. The estimated value of the contract (2021-2023) is EUR 35 billion if fully implemented.

The Audit Chamber reported that it had found disturbing facts surrounding the transaction. According to auditors, the EC chief overruled existing rules to strike a preliminary deal with the US multinational, paving the way for a contract for up to 1.8 billion doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to be signed in May 2021.

For all other vaccine deals concluded by the EU between 2020 and 2021, a joint team consisting of officials from the Commission and seven member states held exploratory talks. The result was then referred to the Vaccine Steering Board, made up of representatives from all 27 EU member states that have signed it.

But this established procedure was not followed in the case of the biggest contract in the EU, says the Court of Auditors. Instead, Von der Leyen herself held preliminary contract negotiations in March and presented the results to the governing board in April. Meanwhile, a planned meeting of scientific advisers organized to discuss the EU's vaccine strategy for 2022 never took place, the report said.

Unlike other contract negotiations, the Commission declined to provide records of discussions with Pfizer in the form of minutes, names of experts consulted, agreed terms or other evidence. "We asked the Commission to provide us with information on the preliminary negotiations for this agreement," the authors of the report wrote. "However, none followed."

A senior auditor who assisted in the investigation commented to the Belgian publication Politico that the Commission's refusal to disclose information was highly unusual. "That almost never happens. This is not a situation that we usually face," said the expert quoted by the media.

The audit report raises further concerns about von der Leyen's actions just two days before she delivers her annual State of the European Union speech.

Back in April 2021, the New York Times reported that the EU leader exchanged text messages with Albert Burla, the CEO of Pfizer, in the run-up to the deal. The close relationship between senior political and business leaders then caused consternation.

The report recalls that the European Ombudsman's investigation into the matter "met a wall of silence". At the time, the Commission claimed it no longer had the text messages. In response, ombudsman Emily O'Reilly found there had been mismanagement.

The controversy concerns the Commission's third contract for BioNTech/Pfizer's mRNA vaccine. The previous two contracts had provided a total of up to 600 million doses. But the next contract for 1.8 billion doses is the biggest of all deals signed by Brussels. It calls for an upfront purchase of 900 million doses, with an option to order another 900 million for delivery in 2022 and 2023.

The contract was significant in both volume and price. According to leaked details, the vaccines cost 15.50 euros   per dose at first, with the price then raised to  19.50 euros,  according to the Financial Times, meaning the contract would be worth around 35 billion euros if fully implemented. "This is the largest contract for a vaccine against COVID-19 signed by the Commission and will dominate the EU's vaccine portfolio until the end of 2023," the Court of Auditors noted. Pfizer did not respond to requests for comment.

This is not the first time the President of the Commission has had problems with "disappearing" text messages. During her tenure as Germany's defense minister, a parliamentary inquiry into well-paid deals with outside consultants revealed that a subordinate had accidentally deleted text messages from her work phone, and von der Leyen had also deleted messages from her own device.

Von der Leyen was eventually exonerated in 2020 by the final  investigation report  , which found wrongdoing by senior military and government officials. In her own evidence to the inquiry, she acknowledged  shortcomings  in the ministry's work on the advisory deals, but said she had addressed them.

The commission did not respond to a request for comment.

SOURCE: Politico