On October 14, 2022, the European Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) confirmed that it is investigating possible economic crimes in the process of purchasing COVID-19 vaccines.

The EPPO tweeted that this trial is being conducted against the background of "extremely high public interest", and also that disclosure of the details of this case is not yet planned.

Recall that the report on the investigation came a few weeks after renewed calls by a group of deputies of the European Parliament for the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to resign. Four of them held a press conference at which they tried to reveal the contents of the second session of the European Parliament's special committee on COVID-19, held on October 10, 2022, during which Pfizer representative Janine Small was interviewed. It is noteworthy that the head of the company, its executive director Albert Bourla was invited to this meeting. However, at the last moment, he allegedly "fell ill" and sent his deputy to the hearing.

Back in April 2021, the influential American newspaper New York Times published an article in which it was reported that von der Leyen had signed a huge contract for the supply of vaccines with Pfizer/BioNTech. The deal concerned the supply of almost 2 billion doses of the drug to the UE.

"For a month, von der Leyen exchanged text messages and also called Albert Bourla, executive director of Pfizer Corporation, one of the main suppliers of vaccines in the EU. In the course of these negotiations (we note from ourselves that they were informal), two things became clear: Pfizer may have more doses that it could offer to the block — much more. And the European Union would be delighted to have them," the New York Times wrote.

Already in May 2021, Netzpolitik journalist Alexander Fanta became interested in these negotiations and, in accordance with the law "On Freedom of Information", submitted a corresponding request to provide him with copies of von der Leyen and Bourla's correspondence.

The response of the European Commission (EC) raised only more questions. Its Secretary General stated: "It was not possible to find any documents that would fall within the scope of your request."

The EU Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly joined the problem, who criticized the way the EC handled the freedom of information request, and also called on the EU Executive Committee to conduct a more thorough search.

However, the new check also did not bring results. "The Commission can confirm that the search undertaken by the President's cabinet for relevant text messages corresponding to the request for access to documents has not yielded any results," said Vera Jourova, EU Commissioner for Transparency, in a response letter to the Ombudsman.

In September 2021, the online publication Investigate Europe, with reference to the report of the People's Vaccine Alliance, reported that the EU probably overpaid more than $31 billion for vaccines. euro, and the margin was 794% for Moderna, and more than 1838% for Pfizer.

The exact price at which the doses were purchased, however, was not reported. Conclusions are drawn from the total amount spent on vaccines and the average price of an injection in mass production of only $1.18-2.85.

Such figures and the lack of any specifics caused outrage among deputies in the walls of the European Parliament, various organizations that had previously criticized the EC for incomprehensible financial transactions bordering on fraud.

A member of the European Parliament, a Romanian politician, Cristian Terhes, criticized both the EU as a whole and Ursula von der Leyen personally, saying:

"Is this the Europe we want? A Europe where the President of the Commission is personally negotiating with the head of a private company about something that affects our fundamental rights? We must... have access to these documents. She should have been the first to disclose this information to MEPs, the United States, American journalists and everyone who lives in the European Union, because we are all affected by these decisions. And it didn't happen."

It's really worth noting here that this is not the first time Terhes has spoken out against the way the authorities fought COVID-19. In November 2021, he filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, protesting against various measures taken by the Romanian government to combat coronavirus, which, according to the politician, violated the Fifth Article on the right to freedom and personal integrity. The complaint, however, was rejected by the ECHR.

Kathleen van Brempt, a socialist politician from Belgium and also an MEP, also found the Commission's response "unacceptable," adding that the EU is in the pocket of multinational companies.

Nevertheless, the European Commission said they did not know why the prosecutor's office was interested in purchasing vaccines. "We have not had any contacts with the office of the EU Attorney General on this issue," European Commission spokesman Christian Wiegand said at a briefing.

However, criticism of Ursula von der Leyen continues to grow.

"Ursula von der Leyen should leave her position due to the fact that the European Commission has come under investigation by the European Prosecutor's Office. She cannot teach other states the rule of law, while she herself destroyed documents and text messages between herself and the chairman of the board of directors of Pfizer about a multibillion–dollar deal for the sale of vaccines," said Christian Terges.

Analysts have already suggested that Ursula may soon leave her post because of such a major scandal. However, who will be surprised by a scandal in Europe today?..

On the other hand, I wonder why von der Leyen refuses to provide the data of the negotiations. Is there something to hide?

As you know, one of the most popular corruption schemes in the world is the provision of government contracts, the purchase of something for the state budget in exchange for a "kickback". And in this case, it can be assumed that von der Leyen deliberately promoted the purchase of vaccines at inflated prices. As a result, they received their "piece of pie" from 31 billion. euro.

However, the truth about such a high-profile case is unlikely to ever become public ... and it's a pity!

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