Watchdog reprimands EU executive for failing to share Von der Leyen texts

European Commission gave no good reason' why its president's messages with Pfizer were not released

The EU's official watchdog has issued a formal reprimand to the European Commission over its president Ursula von der Leyen's failure to release text messages exchanged with the boss of Pfizer during the pandemic.

The EU ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly, on Thursday upheld her verdict of maladministration by the commission, saying it had failed to answer the basic question of whether the text messages in question exist" or be clear about how it would deal with similar requests in future.