29/09/2010 (Agence Europe) - The hearings of two nominee members of the European Court of Auditors were held before the budgetary control committee of the European Parliament on 27 September. The candidates - Lazaros Stavrou Lazarou of Cyprus and Gijs M. De Vries of the Netherlands - obtained unanimous approval from the committee. The plenary vote is to be held in Brussels on 7 October. Lazarou has been nominated by the Cypriot authorities to replace Kikid Kazamias, whose mandate expires on 1 November. De Vries was nominated by the Dutch government to take over from Maarten Engwirda, who has resigned and needs to be replaced for the remainder of his term of office, from 1 January 2011 until 31 December 2013. The parliamentary committee took its unanimous stance after the separate hearings comprising a 5-minute presentation and 25 minutes of question time. The EU Council of Ministers will take a formal decision on the nominations. (L.C./transl.jl)