Bitte, Ursula! Here's the backup of those text messages with Pfizer that you can't find
It's in the contract EU keep confidential, but now has been leaked
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says there’s no record of her text messages sent to the CEO of Pfizer. about a groundbreaking buy for corona vaccines. However, transparency might not be lost.
Those whatsapps, if they’ve really done the deal, they won’t be lost: according to the contract between the EU and the pharmaceutical giant leaked this week, Pfizer must keep 'all relevant documents' for five years.
Just one phone call to the vaccine maker's headquarters is enough for Von der Leyen if she wants to keep her promise to promote transparency in European politics. The apps she used to buy corona vaccines, according to the New York Times, must have been saved. There are strict conditions in the agreement, which was leaked by Kim Dotcom.
Von der Leyens office claimed, indicted in an ongoing freedom-of-information court case about a Woo request from the New York Times that she 'accidentally' did not save the messages. She previously did exactly that when she came under suspicion of corruption in Germany due to overly warm ties with consultancy firm McKinsey, among others. But the documents cannot be gone if the leaked contract with Pfizer is the valid one. This is not yet clear because the European Commission maintains confidentiality about this.
Bitte
It is striking, however, that in the leaked contract of November 20, 2020, special agreements were made by Brussels regarding the retention obligation.
Some of these even specifically concern follow-up purchases of boosters and additional vaccines. Von der Leyen's controversial deal with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla concerns such a follow-up purchase. In a blink of an eye, Von der Leyen had stocked up on hundreds of millions after the booster campaign, intended for the coming winters. But it turns out they aren't necessary at all.
It should be possible to find out exactly how this deal was discussed, according to the framework contract, which formed the basis for the supply of Pfizer jabs for the entire EU. Precisely for the purpose of subsequent investigation, the company must keep all documents for a minimum of five years. Moreover: this period only starts after the last deliveries have been paid for.
Oversight
Not only can a supervisor from Pfizer collect all the documents, the European Commission can also do this itself at any time. The only condition is that this takes place during office hours, as stated in article II.21.1
Full story including the relevant text mining:
https://indepen.eu/heeft-pfizer-de-appjes-van-ursula-bewaarplicht-van-vijf-jaar-in-contract/