21/05/2019 (Agence Europe) – On the basis of proposals from the Croatian and Romanian governments, the Council of the EU officially appointed the Croatian Ivana Maletić and the Romanian Viorel Ştefan as members of the European Court of Auditors on Tuesday 21 May. The former has been appointed for the period from 15 July 2019 to 14 July 2025. She will replace Mr Neven Mates, the outgoing Member for Croatia. The latter has been appointed for the period from 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2025. He will replace Mr George Pufan, the outgoing Member for Romania. Mrs Maletić and Mr Ştefan’s responsibilities will be decided at a later date. However, in April, the European Parliament issued a non-binding negative opinion on the appointment of Mr Ştefan (see EUROPE 12238/24). A member of the Romanian Social Democratic Party, Mr Ştefan has been Minister of Public Finance since 2017. (MB)