Lobbyist against von der Leyen’s second mandate faces new legal setbacks

2 months ago 13

The Brussels Court of Appeal has rejected Belgian lobbyist Frédéric Baldan’s attempt to block Ursula von der Leyen from getting a second term as Commission president.

In April 2023, Baldan, a Belgian lobbyist specialising in EU-China relations, filed a criminal complaint against von der Leyen before an investigating judge in Liège, accusing her of abuse of office, destruction of public documents and corruption for negotiating vaccine contracts allegedly via text messages with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla.

A hearing before a court in Liège in May was postponed until early December of last year, prompting Baldan’s lawyer to send a formal letter to the European Council, EU Commissioner Věra Jourová and European People’s Party (EPP) leader Manfred Weber, calling on them to force von der Leyen and her commissioners to resign before her possible re-election.

More recently, after the European elections, the lawyer summoned the EPP’s leadership to appear before a Brussels court for summary proceedings because EU leaders were due to decide at a summit on 27-28 June who would take over the Commission presidency.

In particular, Baldan argues that he and the other plaintiffs in the criminal case could face retaliation if von der Leyen is re-elected and that he should be protected under the EU’s Whistleblower Directive.

For example, he repeatedly pointed out that his EU accreditation as a lobbyist had been withdrawn a few hours after a press conference on Pfizergate that he held with the now-deceased MEP Michèle Rivasi.

The EPP did not attend the hearing, and the judge decided to reject Baldan’s request “as he had not demonstrated a risk of serious prejudice or serious inconvenience justifying an immediate decision”, AFP reported.

The plaintiff decided to appeal against this decision. The case was heard before the Brussels Court of Appeal on Tuesday, and this time, the EPP was represented by a lawyer. The court said the appeal was “unfounded”. “It does not appear […] that there is a risk of serious prejudice,” it ruled.

With regards to the withdrawal of his accreditation, the judge pointed out that “as the EPP points out, there is a specific procedure before the transparency board against the measure taken by the secretariat [of the Parliament] and then the possibility of appealing against the decision of the Council before the Court of Justice of the European Union […] or even the possibility of complaining with the European Ombudsman”.

Now that EU member states have agreed on the top jobs package with von der Leyen at the helm of the Commission, the European Parliament must confirm the decision with an absolute majority, which it will do on 18 July.

(Anne-Sophie Gayet | Euractiv.com)