Competition concerns over third contract with Pfizer for COVID-19 vaccines
Dear Competition,
Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting documents which contain the following information:
All emails, memos, reports, and communications, including and not limited to text messages, to and from the Directorate General of Competition in relation to the pre-negotiation, negotiations, and follow up on the third advance purchase agreement for COVID-19 vaccines signed with Pfizer.
On May 20, 2021, the European Commission announced that: the Commission signed a third contract with the pharmaceutical companies BioNTech and Pfizer for up to 1.8 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines on behalf of all EU Member States, between end 2021 to 2023.
The European Court of Auditors report on the EU’s vaccine procurement found “The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine dominates the portfolio in 2022-2023,” further on the Court notes that “it is the biggest COVID-19 vaccine contract signed by the Commission and will dominate the EU’s vaccine portfolio until the end of 2023.”
I’d also like materials that were produced to evaluate whether there were any competition concerns of distorting effects from this third contract.
Yours faithfully,
Carlo Martuscelli
Rue de la Loi 62,
1040 Bruxelles,
Belgium
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your request for access to documents
sent on 31/03/2023 and registered on 31/03/2023 under the case number
2023/2017.
We will handle your request within 15 working days as of the date of
registration. The time-limit expires on 26/04/2023. We will let you know
if we need to extend this time limit for additional 15 working days.
To find more information on how we process your personal data, please see
[1]the privacy statement.
Yours faithfully,
Directorate-General for Competition - Access to Documents
European Commission
References
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1. https://ec.europa.eu/info/principles-and...
Dear Mr. Martuscelli,
We are writing concerning your request for access to Commission documents
dated 31 March 2023, registered under case number 2023/2017.
We are currently working on your request. The Commission needs more time
to go through the files and, therefore, we will not be able to send you
the reply within the prescribed time limit expiring on 26 April 2023.
In line with Article 7(3) of [1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, we need to
extend this time limit by 15 additional working days. The new time limit
expires on 22 May 2023.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
Unit E1 Secretariat
DG Competition
European Commission
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
Dear Mr. Martuscelli,
Please see attached the reply to your request registered on 31 March 2023
with the reference EASE 2023/2017 - GENNET, Christina.
Thank you for your attention.
Yours sincerely,
Elena BEK
Administrative and Case Assistant
European Commission
DG COMPETITION
Unit E1 – Antitrust, Pharma and Health Services
B-1049 Brussels MADO (7/005)
Tel: +32 229 87 865