Is the ‘Pfizergate’ ruling the moment von der Leyen finally gets held to account? – POLITICO

BRUSSELS — Are there any serious checks on the woman running the European Commission?

That’s the real question that a long-awaited ruling by the EU’s General Court on Wednesday might go a small way to answering. The “Pfizergate” case has come to symbolize the institutional blind spots at the heart of the EU, and, in particular, around its most powerful official, Ursula von der Leyen. 

The case itself hinges on a legal technicality: Whether the Commission was wrong to dismiss a journalist’s request to access the text messages von der Leyen exchanged with Albert Bourla, the CEO of drug company Pfizer, during discussions about getting vaccines to Europe at the height of the Covid-19 crisis in 2021.