Long delayed, the formation of the College of European Prosecutors of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office should soon find a positive outcome. The final procedural steps are indeed expected this week.
After a meeting of Member States' JHA advisers on Wednesday 22 July, Member States' ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) are expected to give their green light, on Friday 24 July, to the launch of the written procedure for the adoption of the appointment of the 22 European Public Prosecutors, according to an EU source. The EU Council decision is thus expected to be formally adopted next week.
According to a draft EU Council implementing decision dated 17 July, a copy of which was sent to EUROPE, European Public Prosecutors will be appointed for a non-renewable mandate of 6 years: Andrés Ritter (Germany), who had been a candidate for the post of European Chief Prosecutor (see EUROPE 12198/1), Yves Van Den Berge (Belgium), Teodora Georgieva (Bulgaria), Petr Klement (The Czech Republic), Kristel Siitam-Nyiri (Estonia), Frédéric Baab (France), Tamara Laptoš (Croatia), Gatis Doniks (Latvia), Gabriel Seixas (Luxembourg), Cătălin-Laurențiu Borcoman (Romania), Jaka Brezigar (Slovenia), Juraj Novocký (Slovakia) and Harri Tiesmaa (Finland).
In May 2019, the EU Council had drawn lots for eight countries whose European Public Prosecutors will have a three-year mandate instead of a non-renewable six-year term to allow for a partial renewal of one third of the European Public Prosecutors every 3 years (see EUROPE 12266/10).
The European Public Prosecutors appointed for these countries are expected to be: Dimitrios Zimianitis (Greece), María Concepción Sabadell Carnicero (Spain), Danilo Ceccarelli (Italy), Katerina Loizou (Cyprus), Tomas Krušna (Lithuania), Daniëlle Goudriaan (The Netherlands), Ingrid Maschl-Clausen (Austria) and José Eduardo Moreira Alves d'Oliveira Dos Santos (Portugal).
As a reminder, the EU Council decides by simple majority on the whole list, drawn up after receiving the non-binding reasoned opinions of the Selection Panel on the three candidates nominated by each Member State.
The special case of Malta
For Malta, Yvonne Farrugia is expected to be appointed, but the decision has yet to be confirmed.
The formation of the College of European Prosecutors of the European Public Prosecutor's Office had been blocked because of Malta's difficulties in appointing three candidates meeting the conditions of experience and independence (see EUROPE 12499/13).
In order to unblock the situation, an amendment to the Selection Panel’s operating rules (see EUROPE 12523/9) has recently been adopted to allow the Selection Panel to present a reasoned opinion to the EU Council on only two eligible candidates when it is sufficiently established that it is impossible for a Member State to find a third eligible candidate within a reasonable period of time due to exceptional circumstances.
The draft text indicates that, in the Maltese case, the conditions are met. On 16 July, the EU Council therefore received a reasoned opinion on only two Maltese candidates.
Once it has been officially formed, the College of European Public Prosecutors should be able to hold its first meeting in September. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)