Once again, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is embroiled in controversy regarding her private communications. This follows the scandal involving text messages with Pfizer’s CEO. The European Ombudsman has launched an investigation into the deletion of a text message sent by Emmanuel Macron concerning the trade deal with Mercosur.
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A Deleted Text on Mercosur to “Save Space”
The issue was first brought to light by a journalist from the investigative site Follow The Money. In January 2024, amid an agricultural crisis, Emmanuel Macron reportedly sent a message to Ursula von der Leyen via the secure messaging app Signal, expressing his “serious concerns” about the trade agreement between the EU and the Mercosur countries.
When the journalist requested access to this message from the Commission, his request was initially ignored for 15 months before being outright rejected. The Commission claimed it could not retrieve the message because the President uses Signal’s “disappearing messages” feature, which automatically deletes conversations. A spokesperson even defended this practice citing “security” and to “save space on the phone” as reasons. This rationale is quite absurd as deleting messages on Signal does not actually free up any space on your phone.
Echoes of “Pfizergate”
This new incident strongly resembles the “Pfizergate” scandal. The New York Times had sued the Commission for its refusal to disclose the text messages between Ursula von der Leyen and Pfizer’s CEO during the Covid-19 vaccine contract negotiations. Once more, the Commission had claimed that the messages were not preserved.
Investigation for “Poor Administration”
Following the journalist’s persistence, the European Ombudsman, Teresa Anjinho, decided to open an investigation to determine whether the Commission’s refusal to preserve and disclose this message constitutes “poor administration“.
The journalist who uncovered the story argues that the automatic deletion of messages is a significant infringement on transparency. It obstructs any democratic and judicial oversight of the communications of one of the highest leaders within the European Union.
What’s the Takeaway?
This incident is another example of the transparency issues within European institutions. The excuse of “saving space” on a smartphone in 2025 is hardly believable and seems like a clumsy attempt to hide potentially embarrassing exchanges.
Beyond the content of the message itself, it’s the practice that raises concerns. Public officials’ communications, even on private messaging apps, can impact significant political decisions and should therefore adhere to strict archiving and transparency rules. This new investigation might compel the Commission to revise its policies. What do you think? Should messages and texts from political leaders be treated as public archives?