The Court ruled on 14 May 2025 that the European Commission was wrong to withhold text messages between its President and the CEO of Pfizer—messages exchanged during vaccine procurement talks. The judgment confirmed that such messages fall under EU transparency rules and must be made public. In response, we proposed that Parliament “reiterates its full commitment to complete transparency on this matter.”
Yet, astonishingly, a majority—including nearly all Members of S&D, the Greens, and the Left, notably Daniel Freund and Martin Schirdewan—voted against this basic statement of principle.
Christine Anderson, author of the amendment and Chief Whip of the ESN Group, stated:
“Our amendment was neither controversial nor partisan. Yet, the left and green side of the House votes against it. This is a stunning display of hypocrisy. These very same MEPs publicly applauded the Court’s ruling but refused to support a basic commitment to openness when it counted. Transparency must not be a slogan—it must be a principle. We will not let this matter be swept under the rug, nor will we allow Ursula von der Leyen to escape accountability.”
