Fri Aug 01 14:37:05 UTC 2025: Here’s a summary and a rewritten news article based on the provided text, aiming for a neutral and informative tone.

**Summary:**

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is facing scrutiny over text messages exchanged with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla during the COVID-19 pandemic regarding vaccine procurement. The New York Times sought access to the messages under EU transparency laws, but the Commission claims the messages were temporary, related only to scheduling calls, and have likely been deleted as von der Leyen’s phones were replaced. Critics accuse von der Leyen of a lack of transparency and centralizing power. She survived a no-confidence vote in the European Parliament related in part to this “Pfizergate” scandal.

**News Article:**

**EU Chief Under Fire as COVID Vaccine Text Messages Go Missing**

**Brussels, August 1, 2025 (The Hindu)** – European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is facing renewed criticism after the New York Times reported that text messages exchanged between her and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic are likely lost or deleted. The messages, believed to have been exchanged as the EU scrambled to secure vaccine supplies, are at the center of a transparency dispute.

The New York Times took the European Union’s executive branch to court after it refused to share the messages under the bloc’s transparency laws. The court said the commission had failed to provide a credible explanation for declining access.

According to a letter from the Commission to the Times, von der Leyen’s chief of staff, Bjoern Seibert, examined her phone and found no messages matching the description given in the newspaper’s request. The commission asserts that such “ephemeral” electronic communications are not necessarily documents that should be saved or made public.

The Commission also noted that von der Leyen’s phones have been replaced multiple times since the messages were exchanged. The phones were formatted and recycled.

Critics have accused von der Leyen of centralizing power within the EU Commission. Von der Leyen recently survived a no-confidence vote, called in part over the text messaging scandal dubbed “Pfizergate”.

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