EU watchdog has criticized the European Commission for failing to find text messages between President Ursula von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO Albert Burla, Politico reported.

The messages were requested by journalist Alexander Fanta from netzpolitik.org after they were mentioned in an article in the New York Times last April and referred to the EU's efforts to procure coronavirus vaccines.

An investigation by European ombudsman Emily O'Reilly has shown that the Commission did not ask Von der Layen's office to find the text conversations, despite Fanta requesting them. Instead, items that met the Commission's criteria for recording "documents" - a definition that does not include text messages - were requested.

- The way this request for public access was handled means that there was no attempt to find out if there were any text messages. This does not meet reasonable expectations for transparency and administrative standards in the Commission, O'Reilly said.

The case has highlighted the growing debate over how EU institutions deal with officials' text messages - especially when texts include information on key policy decisions.

The New York Times article reported that the head of the commission "exchanged messages and calls" with Burla for a month and that "personal diplomacy played a major role" in a deal to buy 1.8 billion doses of the vaccine. However, in response to Fanta's request, the Commission stated that it had no documents other than enamel, a letter and a press release on the subject.

The commission, among other things, responded to the ombudsman's team that "to date, it has not registered any text messages in its document management system."

The disputed messages were asked to be found again.

Fanta said he would continue to monitor the issue. If the commission refuses to reconsider his case, Fanta added that it would consider taking the case to court.