You’ve just got to laugh. Yesterday, Ursula von der Leyen lost a massive court case, which the Green Party MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) brought against her.

Today, she was renamed the President of the EU Commission. It’s beyond parody.

The Green MEPs had filed requests to access the vaccine contracts and certain related documents to understand the agreement between the Commission and COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers in 2021.

From Politico:

The Commission only agreed to give partial access to certain contracts, arguing that some sections had been redacted to protect commercial interests or for privacy matters. The Green MEPs then took the Commission to court over the refusal.

The General Court on Wednesday partially upheld the MEPs’ lawsuit and annulled the Commission’s decision to redact parts of the contracts.

It pushed against the Commission’s decision to conceal provisions on indemnification, arguing that the Commission failed to prove how those clauses would undermine the commercial interests of the pharmaceutical companies.

The Commission had also refused to disclose the personal details of the officials who negotiated the purchase of the vaccines over privacy concerns. But the court found that the MEPs demonstrated the “public interest” in identifying that team, in order to ascertain if they had any conflicts of interest.

Tilly Metz, one of the Green MEPs who filed the lawsuit, said the ruling is “significant for the future” as the Commission is expected to perform more joint procurements — in health, but potentially also in defense.

“It is important that the court has confirmed the importance of proper justifications for protecting commercial interests,” she said in a statement.

“The new European Commission must now adapt their handling of access to documents requests to be in line with today’s ruling,” she added.

Peter Liese, an MEP from the European People’s Party (the same political group as von der Leyen), played down the court ruling. He considers it “justifiable” that the Commission agreed to some of the pharmaceutical companies’ demands — including redacting certain clauses — to ensure quick access to vaccines for Europe.

But here’s the thing: vdL’s husband is the man who sold her the vaccines!

Questions Were Asked

This question was asked in the European Parliament:

COVID-19: does the position of Ursula von der Leyen’s husband create a conflict of interest with some of the Commission’s activities?

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen indicated in her declaration of interest that her husband runs an American laboratory, Orgenesis, in Germany and that he is a member of an association for musically gifted children and a non-profit association.

However, in view of the commitments to purchase COVID-19 vaccines worth EUR 71 billion, there are a number of crucial omissions in her declaration:

– Orgenesis states that it has been active in the area of COVID-19 vaccines since 19 May 2020.

– Orgenesis reported a turnover of only USD 13 million and losses of USD 9 million in the first six months of 2022. An Orgenesis joint venture is said to have obtained around EUR 32 million from the European Union through the Greek Recovery Plan at the end of 2021[5]. It is reported that on 30 September 2022, Heiko von der Leyen was appointed to the Supervisory Board of an Italian research entity said to have received EUR 320 million from the European Union under the Italian Recovery Plan. Orgenesis is managing a EUR 4 million grant obtained from the Commission on 3 May 2022. In the past, this company has received public funds from Belgium.

How much EU funding was paid or committed to Orgenesis in 2020, 2021 and 2022?

Submitted: 17.11.2022

This is the salient part of the answer that came back:

The Commission and its President were neither involved in the management of the relevant tender procedure nor the selection or award decision. Therefore, any situation of conflict of interest of the President can be excluded.

This, of course, is questionable.

Giorgia Choked

But it was business as usual, because although Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni held von der Leyen’s fate in her hands, she pulled her punch.

Credit: @TFL1728

Oh, how I wish the inimitable Tom Luongo got his wish.

You see, the EU insiders got together and chose everyone’s positions in the next Parliament… without Italy’s involvement. This is a disgrace, as Italy is a net contributor to the EU budget and deserves far more respect than it gets.

But Meloni blew it. She could’ve been The Godmother. She could’ve been a contender…

What’s worse is that we’ve seen all this before.

ECB President and Convicted Fraudster Christine Lagarde

I guess the EU doesn’t like punishing females.

Christine Lagarde, the former Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), was convicted of negligence in December 2016 by a French court. The case stemmed from her time as France's Finance Minister, specifically her handling of a long-running legal dispute involving businessman Bernard Tapie and the state-owned bank Crédit Lyonnais.

The dispute, which began in the 1990s, centered on Tapie's claim that Crédit Lyonnais had defrauded him in the sale of his stake in the sportswear company Adidas. The case was eventually referred to arbitration in 2007, during Lagarde's tenure as Finance Minister. The arbitration panel awarded Tapie €403 million in compensation, a highly controversial decision that led to allegations of political interference and misuse of public funds.

Lagarde was accused of failing to challenge the arbitration decision and of being negligent in allowing the substantial payout to Tapie. The French Court of Justice of the Republic, which handles cases involving government ministers, found her guilty of negligence but didn’t impose a fine or jail sentence. The court acknowledged her distinguished career and the case's complexity, which contributed to the decision to spare her any penalty.

Despite the conviction, Lagarde's career didn’t suffer. She remained at the helm of the IMF, with the organization's board expressing continued confidence in her leadership.

Moreover, this episode didn’t hinder her subsequent appointment as President of the European Central Bank (ECB). In fact, Lagarde was named as Mario Draghi's successor at the ECB in July 2019, roughly two and a half years after her conviction. She took office on November 1, 2019, becoming the first woman to hold the position.

It seems Ms. Lagarde knows where all the bodies are buried.

Wrap Up

When you’re letting stuff like this pass, you wreck your credibility. Of course, Londoners are still crying about not being a part of such a sterling organization. But then again, they moan about everything.

The EU is a mess of an organization. Hungary’s presidency started with Prime Minister Viktor Orban flying around the world for peace talks, only to have vassals like von der Leyen poo-poo him for conducting an “appeasement mission.”

It’s embarrassing, and it's time for her to step down. Unfortunately, in Brussels, you can only fail upward.