The failure of the EU chief to safeguard messages related to deals worth billions has become the focus of a parliamentary initiative.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s known tendency to lose hundreds of phone messages, critical for oversight inquiries into multi-billion euro transactions, has prompted a group of lawmakers to satirize her by suggesting she receive a mobile phone with greater memory capacity.
Von der Leyen has, on prior occasions, either deleted or reported ‘losing’ numerous messages. These communications pertained to a seven-hundred-million euro contract negotiated during her controversial tenure as German defense minister, and a 35 billion euro ($40 billion) agreement for Covid-19 vaccines with Pfizer.
Most recently, von der Leyen’s office declined to release exchanges with French President Emmanuel Macron, who reportedly urged her to block a bloc trade deal with the South American Mercosur group. European Ombudswoman Teresa Anjinho has commenced an inquiry into the failure to preserve these vital communications.
The Commission stated that messages, sent via the Signal app, were automatically removed due to various reasons, including storage constraints.
The amendment proposed by the lawmakers, spearheaded by German MEP Christine Anderson and Sweden’s Charlie Weimers, seeks “adequate funding to provide the President of the Commission with a mobile phone with sufficient storage capacity and appropriate IT support to ensure that all messages are preserved without exception,” as quoted by Politico.
It has been endorsed by 57 MEPs – primarily from right-wing parties – in what the publication characterized as a “trolling” tactic.
The EU’s Court of Justice had previously ruled that official communications made from individuals’ devices must be properly archived, with the institution subsequently committing to review its operational protocols.