Brussels, 14/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament decided on Wednesday 13 April to issue an unfavourable, non-suspensive opinion on the Council's proposal to appoint Polish national Janusz Wojciechowski to become a member of the European Court of Auditors. The EP says he does not have the qualities required for the post.
The EP has a favourable opinion to the appointments to the Court of Auditors of members presented by Slovenia, Latvia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Toni Abela, the Maltese candidate, withdrew following an unfavourable opinion from the EP's budgetary control committee. The final decision will be taken by the EU Council of Ministers.
The plenary votes on the reports by Igor Šoltes (Greens/EFA, Slovenia) were as follows: - Slovenia: Mr Samo Jereb (404 to 222 with 70 abstentions); - Latvia: Mr Mihalis Kozlovs (386 to 123 with 186 abstentions); - the Czech Republic: Mr Jan Gregor (382vto 256 with 57 abstentions); - Slovakia: Mr Ladislav Balko (328 to 317 with 52 abstentions); - Poland: Mr Janusz Wojciechowski (288 to 358 with 48 abstentions).
Before the vote in plenary, the six candidates were interviewed on 15 March by members of the budgetary control committee, which recommended rejection of the candidates from Slovakia, Poland and Malta. Members of the Court of Auditors are appointed for six years. After consulting the EP, the Council makes its decision according to the proposals made by each member state.
“For too long, appointments to the EU's Court of Auditors have been treated as jobs for the boys. It is high time this ended. Given the crucial role of the court in ensuring budgetary transparency and highlighting problems with the EU budget's implementation, it is essential to appoint members with both the requisite professional experience and no doubts about their independence and potential conflicts of interest. This was not the case with three of the six candidates proposed in this round of appointments to the court”, explained rapporteur Soltes, adding that “It is welcome that MEPs have today followed the recommendation of parliament's budgetary control committee to this end in voting to oppose the Polish candidate. Unfortunately, MEPs did not support the recommendation to oppose the Slovak candidate. We now expect the Polish candidate, Mr Wojciechowski, to live up to the commitment made in his declaration and withdraws his candidacy, as the Maltese candidate has already done pre-emptively”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)