Assessment of conflict of interest declarations for members of the team negotiating advance purchase agreements for COVID-19 vaccines

Question for written answer  E-000353/2021
to the Commission
Rule 138
Marc Botenga (The Left)

In its answer to Written Question E-004718/2020[1] regarding the composition of the team negotiating advance purchase agreements for potential COVID-19 vaccines, the Commission specifies that (1) each member of the joint negotiation team signed a declaration of the absence of any conflict of interest, and that (2) the names of the members of the joint negotiation team have not been disclosed in order to enable the joint negotiation team to carry out its tasks independently without being subject to undue external influence or pressure.

• 1.Who assessed these declarations of absence of conflicts of interest, and on the basis of what cumulative criteria?
• 2.Can the Commission explain how the continuing involvement of Richard Bergstrom in two companies providing services to the pharmaceutical sector (Hölzle, Buri & Partner Consulting and PharmaCCX) was not considered an ongoing conflict of interest?
• 3.What specific external pressure or influence did the Commission fear, considering that the names of the negotiators must have been disclosed to the counterparties in the course of the negotiations?

• [1] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-9-2020-004718_EN.html