There was no positive outcome on Thursday 4 April in the negotiations between the EU Council and the European Parliament (see EUROPE 12223/24) on the appointment of the Head of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO). The talks have been suspended. No new meeting dates have been set.
“The meeting didn't go well”, commented one European source. Whilst a two-hour slot had been provided, it reportedly took negotiators barely an hour to register the deadlock in the negotiations.
It must be said that these meetings were held in a particularly tense atmosphere following the indictment, on 28 March in Bucharest, of Laura Codruţa Kövesi, the former head of the Romanian Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and candidate favoured by the European Parliament, for acts of corruption (see EUROPE 12225/7).
On Wednesday, Parliament President Antonio Tajani sent a letter to the Romanian authorities asking them to stop obstructing Ms Kövesi's participation in the selection process for the Head of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (see EUROPE 12228/11).
Later that day, the Romanian High Court of Justice finally lifted the very strict judicial control over Ms Kövesi, giving her the right to leave Romania and thus defend her candidacy in Brussels.
At the meeting on Thursday, Parliament negotiators were determined to put their concerns back on the table about Ms Kövesi's treatment and, more generally, about the rule of law in Romania.
The Finnish, Croatian and Portuguese ambassadors, for their part, reportedly continued to support the French candidate, Jean-François Bohnert, and recalled that their mandate concerned only the selection of the Head of the European Public Prosecutor's Office and not the situation of the rule of law in Romania.
The answer is far from having satisfied the MEPs who criticise the EU Council's reluctance to speak out on the “harassment by the Romanian government” of Ms Kövesi. EU Council negotiators, on the other hand, are irritated by the politicisation of this procedure and feel somewhat taken hostage.
According to the same source, discussions between the two parties have therefore still not reached the heart of the matter and have not addressed the candidates' skills.
The three Parliament negotiators chose to do so in a press release, issued on the same day, where they publicly explain the reasons for their support for the Romanian candidate.
“The obstruction Ms Kövesi is currently facing from the Romanian authorities highlights her courage and her independence, which both are crucial requirements for the efficient functioning of the EPPO”, said Judith Sargentini (Greens/EFA, the Netherlands).
“Ms Kövesi is by far the strongest and most promising candidate for the post. We cannot accept the fact that the Council cedes to the pressure of the Romanian government to support a much weaker candidate”, said Ingeborg Gräßle (EPP, Germany).
“She is a woman, and the Parliament has just recently called on the Council to respect the principle of gender balance. Moreover, Romania currently does not hold a single EU key post”, she added.
The next negotiating session, scheduled for 10 April, is not expected to take place. The Council of the EU has reportedly proposed postponing it until 12 April due to the extraordinary European Council dedicated to Brexit on the same day. However, according to our source, members of Parliament did not follow up on this proposal to continue negotiations.
If there is no additional meeting, it means that negotiations will only resume when the next European Parliament is formed. This could considerably delay the selection process, but above all it could undermine the ambition to have the European Public Prosecutor's Office set up and operational in November 2020.
The Parliament negotiating team will also have to be changed, since Britain's Claude Moraes (S&D) will probably have left his post as a Member of the European Parliament following Brexit and Judith Sargentini is not expected to run again. The new Parliament could also decide to hold a new vote to choose its own candidate.
Member States' ambassadors to the European Union (Coreper) will take stock of the process to be followed after the failure of the negotiations on Friday 5 April. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)