Juncker according to Von-der-Leyen judgment: « I also deleted SMS »

Also the former EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker Has deleted SMS to him. « During my tenure as Commission President, I also deleted many cell phone messages from heads of government and European Parliamentarians, » said Juncker at the request of the German Press Agency. « So this is not an unusual process in the commission. »

Juncker reacted to a decision by the EU Court. The court had criticized the EU Commission’s refusal, SMS between Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and to publish the head of the Pfizer vaccine manufacturer, Albert Bourla, to a journalist of the “New York Times”. The judgment is not yet final.

« I was never told that cell phone messages have to be documented, » said Juncker, who headed the Commission from 2014 to 2019. He is surprised that the Commission is « a fundamental reproach that cell phone messages are not archived: I have never archived a cell phone message. »

The request for a publication of the SMS between the Leyen and Bourla from spring 2021 is about delivery of up to 1.8 billion doses corona vaccine. At that time, the contract volume was estimated at 35 billion euros.

The court made it clear that the Commission could not explain why the text messages were not in their possession. If they have been deleted, this must also be explained sufficiently, it said.