The case may ultimately set a precedent for whether cell phone text messages are considered official documents and what rights the public and media have to access them.

But the biggest political issue at stake is von der Leyen’s own credibility as she embarks on a second term at the helm of the European Union’s executive.

The European Commission that he leads has pledged would defend the standards of transparency, efficiency and probity. Von der Leyen’s team frequently assesses and occasionally punishes EU member governments if they do not follow its rules.

On Friday, the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg will hear a claim that von der Leyen’s administration was wrong to reject requests from Matina Stevis-Gridneff, the former New York Times bureau chief in Brussels, to see text messages they allegedly exchanged with Pfizer. head Albert Bourla at the height of the pandemic.

Stevis-Gridneff first reported on the messages in a interview with von der Leyen in 2021. Since then, however, the Commission has been reluctant to confirm or deny whether such texts ever existed or what they said or did not say.

In the EU General Court case, Stevis-Gridneff is seeking to overturn the Commission’s decision to refuse access to the documents, arguing that it contravenes EU transparency laws. While the court will issue its ruling at a later date, likely in early 2025, Friday’s public hearing will provide the first and perhaps only opportunity for the two sides’ positions to be aired in a public court.