12/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - Croatia's candidate rejected. On Wednesday 12 June, the European Parliament approved the Romanian candidate to the Court of Auditors of the EU, George Pufan, but rejected his Croatian counterpart, Neven Mates, at a vote in Strasbourg. The final decision on the appointments to the Court of Auditors will be made by the Council, following consultation of the EP. The appointment of Pufan was approved by 334 votes to 290, whilst that of Mates was rejected (396 votes to 231). Pufan is currently the administrative head of the Court of Auditors of Romania. He is the third Romanian candidate to this post, after Bucharest withdrew the application of Mircea Vasile Popescu and Leonard Orban withdrew following the negative vote of the plenary. The Romanian seat in the Court of Auditors has been vacant since 1 January 2013. The members of the Court of Auditors, which is based in Luxembourg, are appointed for 6 years. Following its consultation of the European Parliament, the Council takes position upon proposal of the member states. (LC/transl.fl)