On Tuesday 20 March, the budgetary control committee of the European Parliament submitted nearly 140 questions asking the European Commission to shed light on the express appointment of Martin Selmayr, the former head of Cabinet of President Jean-Claude Juncker, to the post of Secretary General (see EUROPE 11979).
The Commission must answer these questions by no later than Monday 26 March, when the competent parliamentary committee will take a position on the discharge of the budget. The day after, the committee on budgetary control will hear the Commission of the Budget, Günther Oettinger. The resolution on Selmayr's appointment will be adopted at the April plenary.
In a press release, Pascal Durand (Greens/EFA, France), said that the saga could have been easily avoided, but showed once again that Parliament is right to call for the creation of an independent high authority for transparency and the integrity of public office.
At Tuesday's General Affairs Council, the Dutch ambassador referred to the Selmayr case, following a specific motion adopted by the national parliament the week before. He called for as much transparency as possible on procedures to appoint senior European officials and called upon the Commission to cooperate fully with the European Parliament.
When asked by the press about this Dutch intervention, the Vice-President of the Commission, Frans Timmermans, kicked the question into touch.
Quiz at Parliament. This type of express appointment is not exclusive to the European Parliament (see EUROPE 11976).
On Tuesday, moreover, the European Civil Service Federation put a quiz online, allowing users to guess which nine individuals will land a senior post with the Parliament. The aim is to verify whether it is decided in advance who these senior posts go to. For six of the posts, requiring 12 years of professional experience, advertisements have been published in the Official Journal of the EU seeking applicants from individuals who are not currently European civil servants.
See: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BNLXXP2 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)