Data security

EU crisis: Von der Leyen under pressure over Germany scandal after phone wiped of evidence

Mrs von der Leyen, Germany’s former defence minister and a close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel, only took up her new post at the Commission at the start of the month. She insisted she has nothing to hide - but she is nevertheless being investigated by a German parliamentary committee, to whom she is scheduled to give evidence next month.

The controversy centres on how lucrative defence contracts were awarded to outside consultants without proper oversight, as well as claims that the deals were facilitated by a network of personal contacts, according to Politico.

Grilled by German newspaper Spiegel on the matter, she insisted she was not concealing anything, adding: "I've turned in both mobile phones that I used as defence minister.

"You'll have to ask what happened to them there. The devices belong to the ministry, so they had to be returned."

She said she had only learned about the data deletion “from the papers”, adding: "I haven't been in the ministry since July 17th.”

The committee investigating the contracts, which will question Mrs von der Leyen on February 13, believes text messages on the device may shed light on what if anything she knows about the scandal.