Recurrent: Ministry of Health

Resolution appealed: R/0055/2023

In exercise of the right of access to public information, a request for access was submitted to the Ministry of Health to obtain information on the economic cost of the coronavirus vaccines, the number of doses purchased, and a copy of the contracts signed with the pharmaceutical laboratories supplying them.

The requested Ministry issued a resolution granting partial access to the global data on the number of doses acquired from each pharmaceutical company. With regard to the rest, it rejects its access on the grounds that it cannot provide information on prices or global expenses or provide copies of contracts for the application of the limit of access to information under the grounds provided in article 14.1 h), j) and k) of Law 19/2013, of 9 December, on Transparency, Access to Public Information and Good Governance (LTAIBG), namely: the limitation of the right of access to information when this may affect economic and commercial interests, professional secrecy and the guarantee of confidentiality in decision-making processes. On the other hand, the cost of acquiring vaccines is subject to confidentiality, being part of the Procurement Agreements concluded by the European Commission with vaccine manufacturers, as established in the Agreement between the European Commission and the Member States on vaccines against COVID-19.

In its resolution, the Council of Transparency and Good Governance partially estimates the claim, after recalling a previous resolution of the Council, on substantially identical matters, in which it was already emphasized that the information requested (dose of vaccines purchased, pharmaceutical laboratory where they have been purchased and their economic cost), had already been provided by the Administration on other occasions, without new arguments having been introduced in this case justifying a change of position or the reasons for invoking now a confidentiality that, on the other hand, did not apply in the previous cases.

As far as the request for a copy of the contracts is concerned, the solution is different, since both the contracts signed by the European Commission and those signed with the pharmaceutical companies are effectively subject to a duty of confidentiality. It is recalled, however, that both the Court of Justice of the European Union and the Supreme Court have stated that these confidentiality reservations cannot be understood in absolute terms; that is, not all information is confidential. Nor can it be forgotten that the Commission itself has partially published the contracts on its website.

Therefore, and in line with the consolidated criterion of the Council of Transparency and Good Governance, the claim is estimated in part in relation to the request for a copy of the contracts; in such a way that the information relating to the contracts signed for the purchase of vaccines must be provided with the exclusion or limitation of that specific part of the information that is undoubtedly confidential because it affects the economic, technical and commercial interests of the companies concerned, and subject to its justification.