Von der Leyen struggles to quell revolt over controversial choice of trade envoy – POLITICO

99 problems

The so-called “Piepergate” affair adds to a growing list of potential problems for von der Leyen as she seeks a second term. This comes just days after POLITICO revealed that the European Public Prosecutor’s Office had opened an investigation into its use of text messages to negotiate major vaccine procurement contracts during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Investigators from the European Public Prosecutor’s Office are now investigating von der Leyen for “interference in public office, destruction of text messages, corruption and conflict of interest,” according to legal documents seen by POLITICO and a spokesperson for the Liège public prosecutor’s office.

The investigation focuses on an alleged exchange of text messages between von der Leyen and Pfizer boss Albert Bourla in the run-up to the EU’s biggest vaccine deal worth an estimated 20 billion euros, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, in a case called “Pfizergate”.

The New York Times, which first revealed that the exchange took place while the two leaders were discussing the terms of the deal, launched a parallel legal action against the Commission after it refused to disclose the content of messages following a request for access to documents. .

Von der Leyen was also criticized for her handling of a trip to Israel shortly after the October 7 attacks, which Borrell and other senior EU officials said had exceeded her authority as head of the European executive because they said she had not consulted EU capitals. before going. At the time, the president’s office was forced to respond by letter to a petition signed by dozens of European officials criticizing his decision to visit Israel.

The Commission president has so far sought to cling to the benefits of his mandate, thus avoiding the daily political brawl. Although she won the EPP nomination on March 7, she only revealed her campaign team earlier this week, and a speech meant to mark the official launch of her campaign, which she delivered in Athens on last weekend, failed to gain significant media coverage.