Member States' ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) endorsed Wednesday 6 November the internal procedure to be followed by the EU Council to determine its position on the selection of the next European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS).
The three candidates shortlisted by the European Commission for the post are Wojciech Wiewiórowski of Poland, the Assistant Supervisor who took over the reins of the institution after Giovanni Buttarelli's death at the end of August (see EUROPE 12310/13), Yann Padova of France and Endre Győző Szabó of Hungary (see EUROPE 12360/12).
Last week, some Member States requested that the vote on the candidates not take place immediately after their hearings. It was therefore decided to leave 2 days between these two stages (see EUROPE 12358/11), according to a European source.
Dates of 20 November for the hearings of candidates by Coreper and 22 November for the indicative vote to establish a ranking have been mentioned, but have not yet been confirmed at this stage.
For its part, the European Parliament will hear the candidates on 25 November in Strasbourg. The European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE) should vote to establish an order of preference the following day.
In the event of disagreement, negotiations between the European Parliament and the EU Council promise to be tense. The EDPS must be appointed by mutual agreement between the co-legislators before 5 December in order to avoid any disruption to the functioning of the institution. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)