EU nations forced to pay for von der Leyen’s Covid deal

A Belgian court has ordered Poland and Romania to buy $2.2 billion worth of Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer and BioNTech

Poland and Romania have to fulfill their obligations under an EU deal and buy €1.9 billion ($2.2 billion) worth of unneeded Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer and BioNTech, a Belgian court has ruled.

The case is linked to the agreements struck by Brussels at the height of the pandemic. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has faced criticism over her role in the controversial deals.

At the time, the commission advocated collectively purchasing billions of shots and distributing them among EU member states struggling to contain Covid-19. It ended up signing multibillion-euro deals with vaccine manufacturers in 2020 and 2021.

Poland refused to comply with its part of the contract in 2022, pointing to an improving situation with Covid and potential abuse of its dominant position by Pfizer. Romania followed suit soon thereafter. The US pharma giant filed a lawsuit against both nations in 2023.

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The Brussels court rejected the defendants’ arguments in its verdict and ruled that the decrease in the infection rate did not justify the “modification” of contractual obligations.

Under the ruling, Poland would have to buy Pfizer vaccines worth €1.3 billion while Romania would have to purchase shots worth €600 million.

Warsaw said it would “pursue all legal remedies available to it to amend this ruling and defend its interests.” Bucharest stated that the requested sum amounts to “the equivalent of ⁠a ... regional hospital in Romania” and also vowed to appeal the decision.

The controversial EU vaccine deal led to the so-called Pfizergate scandal, in which the European Commission and von der Leyen personally were accused of concealing details of negotiations with Pfizer and AstraZeneca.

Von der Leyen was particularly criticized for her refusal to disclose or preserve key text messages she supposedly exchanged with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla. The issue even prompted a no-confidence motion in the EU Parliament last year, which she ultimately survived.