The Acting Administrative Director of the European Public Prosecutor's Office, Olivier Salles, took stock, on Tuesday 29 January, with the MEPs of the Civil Liberties (LIBE) and Budgetary Control (CONT) Committees on the appointment procedure for the head of the European Public Prosecutor's Office.
After reviewing all the applications received, the selection committee (see EUROPE 12093) made a first pre-selection of 11 candidates at the beginning of January, who will be invited for an interview on Wednesday 30 and Thursday 31 January, he announced.
The Committee will then send a short list of 3 to 5 candidates, starting next week, to the European Parliament and the Council, which will have to decide by common accord on an appointment by the end of March (see EUROPE 12173). On the European Parliament side, hearings of candidates are expected to be held in the second half of February.
When asked about the consideration of gender balance in the pre-selections, the Acting Executive Director assured that there were "many women among the 30 applications received" and "several women among the 11 [candidates] who will be heard". The final decision will nevertheless depend on the qualities and skills of each candidate.
The selection process for European prosecutors has also been launched. The Commission has asked the 22 participating Member States to submit 3 candidates each by the end of March.
In this respect, French MEP Eva Joly (Greens/EFA) expressed concern about the candidacies of European prosecutors who could be proposed by some countries such as Poland or Romania, "who do not respect justice very much".
The selection committee has the power to reject an application if it does not meet the required conditions and, in this case, Member States should provide additional applications, Olivier Salles assured.
This exchange of views was also an opportunity for MEPs to reiterate their concerns about the €4.9 million budget allocated for 2019, which they consider insufficient (see EUROPE 12090).
"Our impression is that the budget that has been voted for 2019 is sufficient for the implementation and initial operation phase. Afterwards, we will see if there is a need to revisit this in the budget discussion for 2020", replied Mr Salles. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)