Tag: coronavirus

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Research

WhatsApp Europe?

How official instant messaging can be made accessible is a big question. Whether it is compatible with democracy is a bigger one, Jonathan White argues.

Ursula von der Leyen—government by instant messaging carries a political subtext (Etienne Ansotte / European Commission)
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Civil society Oversight

#RecoveryFiles: investigative journalists seek to shed light on the allocation of RRF funds

Pan-European journalistic project, led by Dutch outlet Follow the Money, seeks to lay bare the secretive decision making around the Covid recovery billions.

An editorial meeting of the national news outlets collaborating in the RecoveryFiles project (still from the project video).
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Categories
Oversight

European Ombudsman: failure to search for requested text messages Von der Leyen constitutes maladministration

European Commission says it will study the decision and respond within the deadline set by the European Ombudsman.

Commission spokesperson Eric Mamer responds to questions after the European Ombudsman’s publication of her decision on Von der Leyen’s undisclosed text messages with Pfizer’s CEO, earlier that day. (Source: Commission, still from midday press briefing 28.1.22)
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Categories
Implementation

Controversy over Von der Leyen’s secret text exchanges with Pfizer CEO

Text messages that apparently sealed a deal between Commission and Pfizer early 2021 are slowly becoming the centre of broader transparency questions.

Photo credit: Politico/Getty images
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