Upholding EU transparency law in cases of ‘alternative documents

Abstract

When private text messages play a key role in shaping matters of public interest, transparency faces its greatest challenge. The so-called ‘Pfizergate’ case placed the EU’s access to documents framework under unprecedented scrutiny. What began as a journalist’s request for access to text messages on EU’s procurement of vaccines developed into a defining yet ultimately Pyrrhic victory for transparency, revealing how the informal use of ‘alternative documents’ exposes structural deficiencies of the EU access to documents regime even beyond the Commission.