Excerpt:

The lawyer based her request on Article 245 (action incompatible with their duties) and Article 247 (serious misconduct) of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

The case concerned the disclosure of calls and text messages exchanged between von der Leyen and Pfizer’s CEO Albert Bourla through which both parties negotiated vaccine contracts during the COVID-19 crisis.

Following a criminal complaint filed by Frédéric Baldan, a Belgian lobbyist focusing on China-EU trade relations, the Belgian authorities initiated the case in early 2023. Subsequently, the governments of Hungary and Poland joined the lawsuit.

Von der Leyen kept “stubbornly refusing to disclose contracts for the purchase of COVID vaccines [...and] the electronic messages she exchanged with Mr Bourla, CEO of Pfizer", according to the letter which said her actions offended "public morality" and "shatter the legitimate confidence that citizens should be able to have in all members of the European Commission".