MEP not allowed to view coronavirus vaccine contracts

MEP Friedrich Pürner (non-party, formerly BSW) has attempted to view all eleven contracts between the European Union (EU) and coronavirus vaccine manufacturers that were concluded in 2021/22.

Specifically, the contracts are with BioNTech/Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Sanofi-GSK, Novavax, HIPRA and CureVac. However, he was denied access to the contracts.

Pürner describes the denial of access to the files as a “mockery for all those who demand clarification and transparency of the political corona measures”. As in the German Bundestag, “the majority groups in the European Parliament have no serious interest in an honest investigation”.

The Italian broadcaster “Radiotelevisione italiana” (Rai) had already published the EU's unredacted contracts with BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna from 2020 in 2021. They can now also be viewed on the “Ask the State” platform.

In Slovenia, four contracts between the EU member state and BioNTech/Pfizer were published following a freedom of information request, although some of them have also been redacted. For example, the price paid for the doses ordered cannot be viewed. Officially, the EU Commission has so far only made all contract texts available in redacted form in many places.

As a deputy member of the EU Health Committee (SANT Committee), Pürner therefore requested that the committee chairman, Polish MEP Adam Jarubas (EPP), request all contracts from the EU Commission in full and unredacted.

In his reply, Chairman Jarubas confirmed that in his role he could “request information from the Commission on behalf of the Committee”. The coordinators of the Health Committee discussed Pürner's request at a meeting on March 19, 2025, but ultimately rejected it.

The reason given in Jaruba's reply is as follows:

“In its relations with the Commission, the SANT Committee, as part of the European Parliament, is bound by the principle of loyal cooperation.” The coordinators had also stated that the topic of the COVID-19 pandemic was “not part of the current SANT work program”.

The Commission's measures in this regard had already been dealt with in detail in the report of the special committee “COVID-19 pandemic: lessons learned and recommendations for the future” (COVI).

Pürner could “renew his request when the SANT Committee will include questions on the COVID-19 pandemic in its work program”. The coordinators of the Health Committee also include AfD MEP Christine Anderson as the only representative from Germany. Anderson did not answer a question from Multipolar as to how exactly Pürner's request was rejected and what her own position was on this decision, despite being asked several times.

In a statement, Pürner clearly criticizes the decision and asks whether the EU Health Committee “should not be a corrective and parliamentary control of the EU Commission”: “How are elected representatives supposed to be able to carry out their work in the committee seriously and conscientiously if they are not even granted access to the files?” He also points out that there is “still an open case before the EU Court” against EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (ECG).

The then and current Commission President von der Leyen is said to have negotiated the largest deal in EU history with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla via text message, among other things. The alleged sum involved is 35 billion euros.

Journalists from the “New York Times” (NYT) and “Cicero”, as well as MEPs such as Martin Sonneborn (Die Partei), have been trying for years to shed light on the EU Commission's vaccine procurement, which is at least partially non-transparent. The NYT is currently suing the EU court for the release of the text messages.

The European Public Prosecutor's Office has been investigating the “acquisition of Covid-19 vaccines in the European Union” since October 2022 - so far without any results. In 2024, the European Public Prosecutor's Office also took over investigations by the Belgian public prosecutor's office against von der Leyen for “interference in public office, destruction of SMS, corruption and conflicts of interest”. However, in January 2025, the court in Liège dismissed several complaints against von der Leyen in this regard.

The European Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly wanted access to the text messages and other documents as early as 2022. Like MEP Pürner, she received a refusal and voiced criticism. Shortly afterwards, the European Court of Auditors also complained that the Commission had not provided it with more detailed information about von der Leyen's specific role in the procurement process.

In July 2024, the EU Court of Justice dealt with the agreements between the EU and BioNTech/Pfizer. The judges in Luxembourg ruled that the EU Commission had violated EU law by keeping information on the multi-billion euro coronavirus vaccine contracts secret.

Specifically, the court criticized the Brussels authority for not granting sufficient access to relevant documents, particularly with regard to possible conflicts of interest and compensation rules for vaccine manufacturers.