The European Commission failed to provide sufficient information about its multi-billion-euro COVID-19 vaccine deals with pharmaceutical companies, according to a ruling by the EU General Court on Wednesday.
The court found that the Commission did not adequately demonstrate how disclosing details about indemnification and liability clauses would harm the commercial interests of the vaccine suppliers.
It also ruled that the Commission should have released the names of the officials involved in the vaccine negotiations, as the public had a right to know if there were any conflicts of interest.
The ruling is a victory for EU lawmakers and others who had requested full transparency on the 2.7 billion euros' ($2.95 billion) worth of vaccine purchase agreements the Commission negotiated in 2020-2021.
The Commission had only provided redacted versions of the contracts, arguing that releasing the blacked-out details would jeopardize its relationships with the pharmaceutical companies.
The Commission, led by President Ursula von der Leyen, is facing separate scrutiny over allegations that von der Leyen kept secret and deleted text messages with the Pfizer CEO regarding vaccine purchases.
While the court upheld parts of the Commission's position, it found that the public interest in accessing the details outweighed the Commission's concerns about commercial interests and personal privacy.
The Commission now has until late September to decide whether to appeal the ruling at the European Court of Justice.
In a statement, the Commission said it would "carefully study" the court decision, noting that it "follows the Commission on many claims" but only partially upheld the legal action. The Commission argued it had to balance the public's right to information with the legal requirements of the COVID-19 contracts
