2023-09-12 14:30:00
INTERVIEW – New twists and surprises in the affair of the text messages exchanged between Ursula Von der Leyen and Albert Bourla. As a reminder, the President of the European Commission is suspected of having secretly negotiated with the CEO of Pfizer, without a mandate to this effect, a “mega contract” for the purchase of anti-Covid-19 vaccines. In order to bring this alleged state of affairs to light, legal action was taken by the Belgian lobbyist Frédéric Baldan and the French lawyer Me Diane Protat. Several complaints have been filed in Belgium and Luxembourg. And to understand all the subtleties of these procedures, such as the extent of SMSgate within the supranational administration in Brussels, Mr. Baldan’s status as a “lobbyist” is anything but trivial. Indeed, registered in the European Union (EU) transparency register as required by its activity (1), he was recently suspended under disturbing circumstances. However, we observe that the pharmaceutical manufacturer Pfizer, accredited as a lobbyist to the European Parliament, clearly does not meet the required criteria. Criteria about which Frédéric Baldan is asked to explain. (Read the rest of the article below the video)
A few days before being suspended from his lobbyist activity in Brussels, Frédéric Baldan was invited by European parliamentarian Michèle Rivasi (Europe Écologie-Les Verts) to a conference. This aims to inform the population of the various legal proceedings initiated in the context of SMSgate. He then presents his first complaint filed with Me Diane Protat against Ursula von der Leyen, registered in April 2023 with the Liège court, for corruption and illegal taking of interests. But it also describes a second procedure, filed in Luxembourg and which consists of two parts.
The first part concerns an alleged violation by the European Commission of fundamental rights regarding transparency. The second part concerns the non-compliance with“a code of conduct which applies to European commissioners in particular for problems of conflicts of interest and corruption”. According to him, a resignation of the president of the European Commission is necessary in order to prevent any interference with ongoing legal cases.
Immediate retaliatory measure?
Three hours after publicly supporting this idea, he received an email from EU Transparency Register Secretariat. An email that is sent “without the name of a senior official, without contact details”. Its content informs it of a “quality control” of his declaration of lobbyist activity.
His declaration data would be “suddenly” become “inconsistent”. However, they have not posed any problems in six years of activity.
The Belgian lobbyist then checks the texts. The accusation is not “not clearly defined”. And in any case, it would only show the failure of the prior processes of supervision and control of the practice of lobbying. Mr. Baldan therefore goes further. He tries to understand “who is in front of him”. The transparency register secretariat has not “no organizational chart” et “no postal address”.
Finally, with the help of journalists, he identifies some officials who collaborate with this entity. The lobbyist discovers that a “n-1” of Mrs von der Leyen is at the head. This direct report to the president involved in SMSgate also heads the transparency unit of the European Commission. In fact, when someone requests access to Ms. von der Leyen’s text messages sent to Mr. Albert Bourla (the heart of the matter), they are speaking directly to the person who suspended Mr. Baldan. He who is forced to resort to justice to obtain access to SMS…
“No one questions my professional practice”, continues the Belgian lobbyist. This suspension was made urgently and without waiting for the proposals for clarification made by Mr. Baldan. However, a particular element is required by the Secretariat of the Transparency Register: following his suspension, Mr. Baldan must remove from his declaration of activity, which is public, the mention of his complaint lodged against Ms. von der Leyen.
And he must do the same regarding his meetings with European deputies: a complete contradiction for this office responsible in theory for providing information to citizens in order to monitor the practice of lobbyists!
What about the conformity of Pfizer’s activity as a lobbyist?
Mr. Baldan then has a simple but formidable idea: go and verify the declarations for other lobby groups, including the industrial company Pfizer. Which legal entity listed in the transparency register represents the lobbyist? Pfizer Inc., the company across the Atlantic, for which its CEO involved in SMSgate, Mr. Albert Bourla, is directly responsible.
Does the American giant Pfizer meet the conditions to practice lobbying in Brussels? The question was debated few months ago. Mr. Baldan especially remembers of all proven Pfizer convictions pour corruption.
But then how could the declaration to access this right to exercise as a lobbyist in Brussels be made? “They knowingly made a false statement.”, says Frédéric Baldan. According to him, the pharmaceutical industry “having already been convicted of corruption abroad”, officials of the Secretariat to the transparency register “should never have accepted Pfizer’s statement and accredited them as a lobby.”
“We were right on target,” dit Me Protat car “everything is done to put spokes in the wheels” to the one who became “a whistleblower”. “We cannot let the European institutions be derailed to this extent”, says Frédéric Baldan to explain his commitment. For him, it is a question of shedding light on the actions of senior European officials whose nature makes Me Diane Protat suspect “a collusion” to the detriment of citizens and democracy. “The European Commission is sinking deeper into its denial and its lies”, added M. Baldan.
A case which has not stopped making headlines and, yet, neither the French media nor Agence France-Presse mention it. Behavior that shocks Mr. Baldan: “I have contacted major journalists who are fully informed. They refuse to relay the information.” However, it is indeed a “journalistic fact” about contracts carried out in the greatest opacity and which cost European taxpayers tens of billions of euros.
Note :
(1) The transparency register is a database which lists all the organizations whose wish is to influence the legislative process and implementation of policies of the European institutions. Its aim is to highlight the origins, intentions and budgets of various lobbying activities in order to theoretically allow the public to monitor them and their activities.
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