An adviser to the EU Court of Justice recommended on June 11, 2026, that the European Commission's appeal against greater transparency of COVID-19 vaccine contracts be dismissed, supporting disclosure requirements established in a 2024 ruling [1, 2]. Advocate General Athanasios Rantos said, "The General Court was correct in holding that the transparency of the process of negotiating agreements for Covid-19 vaccines constitutes a specific purpose in the public interest within the meaning of EU law" [1].

The dispute centers on the Commission's handling of contracts negotiated with pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer and BioNTech that procured vaccines for all 27 EU member states during the pandemic [1]. The Commission previously withheld certain information, such as redacting names of negotiation team members and withholding contractual clauses citing privacy and commercial interests [1, 2].

The General Court had ruled that transparency in negotiating COVID vaccine agreements served a specific public interest under EU law and ordered the Commission to disclose more information [1, 2]. The court adviser reinforced that anonymized disclosures alone do not allow proper scrutiny of potential conflicts of interest [2]. He also found no credible evidence that releasing indemnification clauses would harm commercial interests or raise legal risks for the pharmaceutical firms involved [2].

In 2025, the Court ordered the disclosure of text messages exchanged between Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO during contract talks, a ruling the Commission did not appeal despite von der Leyen stating she no longer retained the messages [1].

Transparency issues had prompted a European Parliament debate in July 2025 on a motion of censure against von der Leyen accusing the Commission of opacity over vaccine negotiations. The motion was ultimately rejected [2].

The court adviser's recommendation to dismiss the Commission's appeal reinforces legal requirements for full disclosure about vaccine procurement. The EU Court of Justice is expected to issue its judgment on the appeal in the coming months [1, 2].