The European Commission has a “margin of discretion” when it hires staff on a temporary basis, said the EU institution’s chief spokesman, Eric Mamer, when questioned by the press on Tuesday 9 April about the controversial appointment of German Christian Democrat Markus Pieper to the post of EU Special Envoy for SMEs (see EUROPE 13385/12).
In his view, once candidates for an internal post have been pre-selected, the order of preference suggested at the intermediate stage may well change during the subsequent, more political phase. “The counters can be reset to zero” during the course of the procedure, underlined Mr Mamer.
The European Commissioner for Budget and Administration, Johannes Hahn, has written to respond to the concerns of four of his counterparts about the way in which this appointment was made, in particular the lack of collegiality in the decision-making (see EUROPE 13384/19).
The President, Ursula von der Leyen, “is of course ready for the College to discuss [on Wednesday 10 April] the procedures for appointing senior officials”, Mr Mamer said.
Appointed at the end of January, Mr Pieper, who is from the same party as Mrs von der Leyen, is due to take up his duties on Tuesday 16 April for a four-year term.
One of the other two shortlisted candidates, MEP Martina Dlabajová (Renew Europe, Czech), has lodged a non-suspensive appeal with the Commission, which has yet to be decided. When questioned by Agence Europe, Mr Mamer did not wish to say what would happen if the committee hearing the case were to accept the appeal, believing that the Commission would decide in due course.
The EPP is convinced that Mr Pieper is the ideal candidate for the post of EU SME Envoy, and considers these attacks by European Commissioners already on the campaign trail to be irrational. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)