99 problems
The so-called “Piepergate” affair adds to a growing list of potential problems for von der Leyen as she seeks a second term. It comes just days after POLITICO revealed that the European Public Prosecutor’s Office had opened an investigation into her use of text messages to negotiate major vaccine purchase contracts during the Covid-19 pandemic.
EPPO investigators are now investigating von der Leyen over “interference in public function, destruction of SMS, corruption and conflict of interest,” according to legal documents seen by POLITICO and a spokesperson from the Liège prosecutor’s office.
The probe centers on an alleged exchange of text messages between von der Leyen and Pfizer boss Albert Bourla in the run-up to the EU’s biggest vaccine deal worth an estimated €20 billion at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, in an affair dubbed “Pfizergate.”
The New York Times, which first revealed that the exchange had taken place as the two leaders hashed out the terms of the deal, has launched a parallel lawsuit against the Commission after it refused to disclose the content of the messages following an access to documents request.
Von der Leyen also faced criticism over her handling of a trip to Israel shortly after the Oct. 7 attacks, which Borrell and other senior EU officials said had overstepped her authority as head of the EU executive because they said she had failed to consult EU capitals before going. At the time, the president’s office had been forced to respond by letter to a petition signed by dozens of EU officials criticizing her decision to travel to Israel.
The Commission president has so far sought to cling to the advantages of incumbency, avoiding the fray of day to day politics. Despite winning the EPP’s nomination on March 7, she only unveiled her campaign team earlier this week, and a speech meant to be mark the official launch of her campaign, which she delivered in Athens last weekend, failed to garner significant coverage.
