There are only three of them left to compete for the position of head of the European Public Prosecutor's Office. Frenchman Jean-François Bohnert - the Council's favourite candidate -, Romanian Laura Codruţa Kövesi - the Selection Committee's favourite candidate - and German Andrés Ritter were heard, in turn, on Tuesday 26 February for more than an hour, by the MEPs of the Civil Liberties (LIBE) and Budgetary Control (CONT) Committees.
The procedure for these hearings has been carefully orchestrated. The three candidates each received a preparatory questionnaire with three questions, to which they replied in writing. Each candidate had the same speaking time, namely 7 minutes for his opening speech, followed by 63 minutes of questions and answers, divided between the members of the LIBE Committee (14 questions) and the CONT Committee (7 questions), 1 minute per question and 2 minutes per answer.
Mr Ritter was drawn at random to speak first, followed by Mr Bohnert and Ms Kövesi, in alphabetical order. At the heart of MEPs' questions: the independence of the Head of the European Public Prosecutor's Office, relations with Member States that do not participate in enhanced cooperation and, above all, how the future Head of the European Public Prosecutor's Office should deal with political pressure.
Andrés Ritter's watchword: efficiency
"A driving force" or "the promoter of a good and effective working practice": this is how Andrés Ritter sees the role of the head of the European Public Prosecutor's Office.
While deputies widely acknowledged the German candidate's "impressive career", they were fond of examples of major media cases that he could have handled in the past.
Mr Ritter mentioned in particular a case involving an artificial division of 32 million euros of European subsidies, involving elected officials and which resulted in a charge. Nevertheless, he admitted that he had never faced political pressure. And that's probably where he risks losing points to Romanian candidate Laura Codruţa Kövesi.
"Have I ever been under political pressure? Elected officials yes, but political pressure on me, no. But I know that this is happening in other countries and I know that it is the case for another candidate for this position. And it is an honour to be one of the few candidates who have been pre-selected and to be at his side. I can only congratulate her for her courage", he replied.
Jean-François Bohnert relies on his European experience
Jean-François Bohnert, who came first in the Council's selection (see EUROPE 12198), hopes to convince thanks to his dual experience as a "European magistrate and experienced prosecutor", but also as a "committed European".
Before the deputies, he highlighted his experience as a "European builder", participating in the birth of the position of liaison magistrate as well as Eurojust as deputy representative of France from 2003 to 2007.
"I know how to bring together professionals from different legal and judicial backgrounds who always work in a multicultural and multilingual environment", he said, as did his speech in French, English and German.
For him, the main challenge for the European Public Prosecutor's Office will be above all to be credible. The European Public Prosecutor's Office will have to convince the 22 Member States participating in the enhanced cooperation to work hand in hand with the new body, but also convince the other six Member States that are not participating.
Also passing the test of the major cases he has dealt with in the past, Mr Bohnert mentioned in particular that of a senior public servant with whom he regularly worked, whom he had to prosecute, with impartiality and objectivity, for abuse of the public good.
Mr Bohnert asserts that he has never been personally subjected to political pressure, but explains that he has witnessed certain practices. However, this situation has changed radically in France since 2013, he pointed out.
Asked by the Dutch Sophie in't Veld (ALDE) if he felt like a pit bull enough for the job, Mr Bohnert assured that he had never lacked courage.
Laura Codruţa Kövesi, the symbol of the fight against corruption
The only woman in the running and favourite candidate of the Selection Committee (see EUROPE 12093), for the Romanian candidate Laura Codruţa Kövesi, the exercise was somewhat different. The majority of her speaking time was used to defend herself in the face of the misinformation campaign against her.
Romania, which currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU, has made no secret of its opposition to Mrs Kövesi's candidacy, which it discredited in a letter sent to the other Member States (see EUROPE 12193).
"I’m aware that you have been exposed to a lot of negative information about me. I would like to say very clearly that I have absolutely nothing to hide", she said. In particular, it shed light on two distinctions it allegedly received from the American secret services, as well as on several investigations opened against it in Romania.
The experience of the former head of the Romanian Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, whose removal from post had been controversial (see EUROPE 11968), was probably less to be proven than that of the other two candidates.
"I’m use to dealing with public pressure and working under stressful situation", she said, referring to her record. Almost all the cases dealt with under her mandate were very high-level corruption cases involving persons holding public office, she explained.
The Romanian woman did not fail to point out that, according to her, any prosecutor must "aim for the truth, must be a servant of the rule of law and must have a strong moral compass".
During her hearing, several MEPs, such as Roberta Metsola (EPP, Malta), Eva Joly (Greens/EFA, France), Barbara Spinelli (GUE/NGL, Italy) and Younous Omarjee (GUE/NGL, France) praised her courage and denounced the campaigns of denigration against her.
The LIBE Committee will vote on Wednesday 27 February
Earlier today, the LIBE Committee MEPs approved by a large majority (44 votes in favour and 6 against) the S&D and GUE/NGL groups' request that the vote on the ranking of candidates be held in the parliamentary committee and not in the coordinators' meeting (see EUROPE 12201). The vote will therefore take place in the LIBE Committee on Wednesday 27 February at 11:00 am, by secret ballot.
A decision taken at a Coordinators’ meeting would have put the LIBE Committee in a situation of institutional isolation, not only from the European Parliament's CONT Committee, but also from the EU Council, which has established a ranking, explained the chairman of the LIBE Committee. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)