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 the negotiations for Pfizer's biggest ever vaccine contract for 1.8 billion doses. The estimated value of the contract (2021-2023) is €35 billion if fully implemented.
The National Audit Office said it had found disturbing facts surrounding the deal. The auditors said the European Commission chief had overruled existing regulations to strike a preliminary deal with the US multinational, paving the way for a contract for up to 1.8 billion doses of 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 comprising officials from the Commission and seven member states has held exploratory talks. The outcome has then been referred to a Vaccine Steering Board made up of representatives of all 27 EU Member States who have signed up to it.
But this established procedure has not been followed in the case of the EU's largest contract, the Court of Auditors says. Instead, Von der Leyen herself held preliminary negotiations on the treaty in March and presented the results to the board in April. Meanwhile, a planned meeting of scientific advisers organised to discuss the EU's vaccine strategy for 2022 never took place, the report says.
Unlike other contract negotiations, the Commission refused to provide records of discussions with Pfizer in the form of minutes, names of experts consulted, agreed terms, or other evidence. "We have asked the Commission to provide us with information about the preliminary negotiations for this agreement," the report's authors wrote. "However, none followed."
A senior auditor who helped in the investigation told the Belgian publication Politico that the Commission's refusal to disclose information was very unusual. "It almost never happens. It's not a situation we usually encounter," the expert was quoted as saying by the media outlet.
The audit report raises further concerns about Von der Leyen's actions just two days before she delivers her annual State of the Union speech.
Back in April 2021, the New York Times reported that the EU leader had 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 caused consternation at the time.
The report recalls that the European Ombudsman's investigation into the matter 'met with a wall of silence'. At the time, the Commission claimed that it no longer had the text messages. In response, Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly found that there had been mismanagement.
The controversy concerns the Commission's third BioNTech/Pfizer mRNA vaccine contract. 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 largest of all the deals signed by Brussels. It provides for the advance 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 per dose at the start, and the price has since been raised to €19.50, according to the Financial Times, meaning the contract will cost around €35 billion if fully implemented. "This is the largest COVID-19 vaccine contract signed by the Commission and will dominate the EU's vaccine portfolio until the end of 2023," notes the Court of Auditors. Pfizer did not respond to requests for comment.
This is not the first time the Commission President has had problems with "disappearing" text messages. During her tenure as Germany's defense minister, a parliamentary investigation into well-paid deals with outside consultants revealed that a subordinate accidentally deleted text messages from her office phone, and von der Leyen also deleted messages from her own device.
Von der Leyen was eventually exonerated in 2020 by the final report of the investigation , which found that senior military and government officials had committed misconduct. In her own testimony to the inquiry, she acknowledged shortcomings in the ministry's handling of the consulting deals but said she had addressed them.
https://obektivno.bg/odit-ek-krie-kak-e-sklyuchen-dogovora-za-1-8-mlrd-dozi-vaksini-s-pfizer/
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