German television investigates the opacity of contracts for the purchase of anti-Covid-19 vaccines by the European Union

2023-08-16 17:30:00

TELEVISION – Notice to German speakers! This evening August 16, between 9:45 p.m. and 10:15 p.m., on the German general television channel The first (“la Première”, see program and broadcasters at the end of the article), the economic magazine of reports and documentaries “Plus Minus” (produced since 1975 and broadcast on various channels across the Rhine) addresses the subject of contracts for the purchase of anti-Covid-19 vaccines within the European Union (EU).

The latter feed all the suspicions since the affair of the SMS exchanged between Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission and Albert Bourla, the CEO of Pfizer, revealed by the New York Times in April 2021.

On October 14, 2022, an investigation was opened by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office into the conditions for purchasing anti-Covid-19 vaccines. The particularly opaque nature of the contracts entered into with several pharmaceutical manufacturers, primarily Pfizer/BioNTech, causes “extremely high public interest”according to a statement from the European Public Prosecutor’s Office published last year.

It is therefore surprising that few media are interested in this subject.

“A dodgy vaccine deal”

Notable exception, the writing of “Plus Minus” presents its program by evoking a “dodgy vaccine deal” and describes Ursula von der Leyen as the one who “prevents clarification” about the “biggest contract the EU has ever concluded with a private company”35 billion euros (in particular for 1.8 billion doses of Pfizer vaccine).

The various legal proceedings in progress against the President of the European Commission are mentioned. According to the plaintiffs at the origin of these various procedures, not only Ursula von der Leyen would have “violated the principles of public administration” European Union, but moreover, these colossal purchases would have been neither justified nor necessary, according to medical experts.

To date, among all the legal procedures concerning the contracts relating to the purchase of anti-Covid-19 vaccines and/or the personal situation of the President of the European Commission, we find:

-A procedure conducted by the Association Common sense*, initiated in France on January 10, 2022, which aims to have the contracts for the acquisition of anti-Covid-19 vaccines concluded between the EU and pharmaceutical companies recognized as null and void.

-A second procedure initiated by the same association introduced in the United States on December 19, 2022, which aims to obtain the publication of the SMS exchanged between Albert Bourla and Ursula von der Leyen.

-A procedure launched by the New York Times on February 13, 2023, in order to compel the European Commission to publish the aforementioned SMS.

-A criminal complaint filed in his country by the Belgian lobbyist Frédéric Baldan on April 5, 2023, vis-à-vis the contract for 1.8 billion doses. According to him, it is a question of shedding light on this massive purchase, the negotiation of which has obviously short-circuited a steering committee responsible for gauging the offers. Ursula von der Leyen has no mandate in this area.

This list is not exhaustive. In 2022, the European Ombudsman recalled that “access to EU documents is a fundamental right”. Despite ongoing complaints, the Commission refuses, until today, to reveal behind the scenes of its negotiations with the pharmaceutical industry.

Program and broadcast

Programme chain. Diffusers:

Lien streaming to watch The first et Youtube channel.

Upcoming replay: 08/17 at 9:45 p.m. – 08/19 at 3:30 p.m.

The first is also broadcast by these French bouquets:

-Channel n°672 on the SFR Box and RED of SFR
-Channel n°421 on the Livebox of Orange and Sosh

Seems not available on Canal+, Bbox-Bouygues and Freebox-Free.

*Xavier Azalbert, publication and editorial director of France-Eveningis a member of the association Bon Sens.