The European Ombudsman is investigating the case of a candidate deemed ineligible for the post of European Public Prosecutor by the selection panel and a note from the Secretariat-General of the Council of the EU dated 3 July—of which EUROPE has received a copy—has come to light.
The note does not mention the identity or nationality of the candidate who lodged the complaint, but states that the questions put by the European Ombudsman to the EU Council relate to “the internal procedures of the selection panel concerning Maltese candidates”. A source also confirmed that the candidate in question was indeed Maltese.
It should also be noted that the formation of the College of European Prosecutors was delayed because of Malta's difficulties in appointing three candidates who met the conditions relating to experience and independence as laid down in the founding Regulation of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (see EUROPE 12499/13).
An investigation was opened on 23 March into “alleged irregularities in the procedure for selecting a European Public Prosecutor”, (complaint 380/2020/VB) and a request for information was sent to the European Commission on the same day. The latter replied to this on 11 May.
The European Ombudsman then decided to send a letter to the Council of the EU on 5 June setting out two specific questions: the first concerning the reasons as to why the selection panel allegedly refused to notify the reasoned opinion to the complainant, and the second regarding the possibility of a review of the selection panel's decision on ineligibility.
In a letter of response appended to the memorandum, the EU Council refers the matter back to the selection panel in respect of the first question and emphasises that it is a separate and autonomous legal entity from the EU Council.
The investigation will look at the second stage of the procedure, which begins when the selection panel receives the list of the three designated candidates from the Member States; the stage lasts until the evaluation of eligibility of the candidates and a final assessment of the candidates' merits is made. This phase, the Council of the EU points out, falls within the exclusive competence of the selection panel.
The EU Council further states that it was not aware of the candidate's challenge to the procedure until it received the letter from the European Ombudsman in early June. They were therefore not in a position to know the rationale behind the refusal to inform the complainant of the selection panel's reasons for finding him ineligible, it replied.
In respect of the second question, the Council of the EU replied that the founding regulation of the European Public Prosecutor's Office does not provide for any possibility of reviewing the eligibility decisions made by the EU Council. However, there is nothing to prevent candidates from exercising other courses of action under national or Community law. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)