The European Commission has announced its most senior legal adviser is being moved from his role, an announcement that came just hours after President Ursula von der Leyen faced a significant setback in a court battle over private messages, Politico reports.
“The European Commission has decided to transfer, in the interest of the service, Daniel Calleja y Crespo, to the function of Head of the European Commission Representation in Spain,” stated an official communication released on Wednesday.
This decision landed on the same day the EU General Court ruled that the Commission had violated transparency rules by refusing to disclose text messages reportedly exchanged between von der Leyen and the CEO of vaccine manufacturer Pfizer. These exchanges are believed to have occurred at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, as a major vaccine deal was being negotiated.
Court Finds Commission Wrong to Withhold Messages
The EU court declared the European Commission was wrong to deny access to Ursula von der Leyen’s text messages with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla. Journalists had requested to see these private communications, which took place before the EU finalized a multibillion-euro vaccine agreement with Pfizer.
This landmark deal, sealed in May 2021, saw the EU commit to purchasing up to 1.8 billion doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, by far the largest such contract signed by Brussels.
“Credible Explanations” Demanded
The existence of the texts, which the Commission initially did not confirm, was first revealed by von der Leyen herself in a 2021 interview with The New York Times.
However, during a preliminary hearing in Luxembourg last year, the EU’s executive arm argued that the messages’ content wasn’t significant enough to be classified as official documents. Therefore, they claimed, the texts weren’t registered and couldn’t be released to journalists.
In its ruling, the court pushed back strongly, stating: “The Commission cannot merely state that it does not hold the requested documents but must provide credible explanations enabling the public and the Court to understand why those documents cannot be found.”
The legal challenge was brought against the Commission’s refusal by The New York Times and its former Brussels bureau chief in 2022.