For some context, Pfizergate refers to the supposed scandal involving EU president von der Leyen and Pfizer itself over the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines in 2021. It is mainly about the lack of transparency during the communication and negotiating phase in purchasing a large amount of vaccines to deal with the pandemic. As a refresher, the EU signed a deal with Pfizer worth €35 billion to provide 900 million doses of its vaccine from 2021 to 2023.
The scandal is said to be von der Leyen’s handling of the deal, with her personally negotiating with Pfizer and bypassing the public procurement process. So, yeah. That’s the gist of it.
Now, far-right lawmakers are trying to bring this up again in ousting von der Leyen as EU president. Romanian far-right MEP Gheorghe Piperea is reported to table a no confidence vote today after obtaining more than the necessary 72 signatures to begin the motion.
That being said, more than two-thirds of MEPs in attendance would be needed to topple von der Leyen. And when she won her second term last year, she secured 401 votes out of 720 members. That’s roughly 56% of lawmakers siding with her
