Tension has been mounting in the European Parliament since allegations of procedural irregularities concerning the appointment last July of Portuguese prosecutor José Guerra in the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (see EUROPE 12629/8). In recent days, several political groups have raised their voices and asked for explanations.
After the EPP group, which last week asked the European Commission to launch an investigation into the matter (see EUROPE 12631/18), the Renew Europe group asked, in a letter sent on Sunday 10 January to the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the Prime Minister of Portugal, António Costa, for immediate public clarification of this appointment.
“Should it not be forthcoming, [Renew Europe] will ask for a debate on this issue during the next plenary session of the European Parliament and do not rule out calling for an independent enquiry either”, the letter states.
A new twist has indeed thrown fuel on the fire: Portuguese public television recently revealed a letter, dated 7 October and written by Michael Clauss, the German ambassador to the EU—on behalf of the EU Council, since Germany held the rotating Presidency of the European institution at the time—to Ana Carla Almeida, the candidate for the post of Portuguese public prosecutor against Mr Guerra.
In this letter, the EU Council explains to Ms Almeida the reasons that led it to deviate from the selection committee’s choice of members of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, which had ranked her as favourite for the post, and to appoint Mr Guerra.
“Prior to the adoption of the abovementioned decision appointing the European Prosecutors, the relevant preparatory bodies of the Council during a number of meetings assessed the merits of all the candidates on the basis of documents and information at their disposal, in particular the reasoned opinions established by the panel and information provided by the Member States”, the letter states.
“ln the context of that comparative assessment, the Council considered in particular that the qualifications and professional experience of the abovementioned candidate were better suited for the post of European Prosecutor”, it continues.
However, this letter contradicts the Portuguese government’s assertions that the “errors” contained in Mr Guerra’s curriculum vitae were not decisive in his appointment, a parliamentary source told us.
According to our contact, two of the arguments put forward in that letter by the EU Council to justify its choice were in fact based on the false information presented by the Portuguese government in Mr Guerra’s curriculum vitae. It is therefore clear, in his view, that the misinformation did indeed influence the EU Council’s decision.
Not only Portugal is to blame in this case, but also the EU Council itself, which failed to enforce the independent opinion of the selection committee and to protect the selection process from political pressure, he said.
Some countries have reportedly objected to Mr Guerra’s appointment. This is notably be the case for the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria and Estonia, which wished to follow the ranking established by the selection committee.
Can this revelation be sufficient to overturn Mr Guerra’s appointment? The fact that Portugal holds the Presidency of the EU Council for the next 6 months probably does not help. The Portuguese government is maintaining its line of defence, even after the release of this new document, explained our source.
In Parliament, Portuguese elected representatives are considering taking the case to the European Ombudsman. Ms Almeida is also reported to have taken steps to do so.
Furthermore, a European source confirmed to us on Tuesday 12 January that the Portuguese Presidency had formally informed the Member States of the situation, first in writing on 4 January and then orally on 7 January, at the meeting of national experts from the Antici Group. The subject should be included as an “information point” on the agenda of a future meeting of the EU Council working group, she said.
See the letter from the EU Council: http://bit.ly/3oynkVH and the letter from Renew Europe: http://bit.ly/2XAu1KU (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)