On Thursday 11 April, more than 380 MEPs voted in favour of the amendment tabled by Daniel Freund (Greens/EFA, Germany), calling on the European Commission to reconsider the controversial appointment of its SME Envoy (see EUROPE 13384/19).
The amendment, approved by 382 votes to 144 with 80 abstentions, was included in the overall vote on the draft European Parliament resolution on the discharge to be given to the Commission in respect of the implementation of the EU 2022 budget (see other news).
“We call on the Commission to rectify the situation by cancelling the appointment and launching a truly transparent and open process”, Daniel Freund said in a tweet after the session.
Just before the vote began, MEP Martina Dlabajová (Renew Europe, Czech), who was one of the other two candidates shortlisted for the post, took the floor to announce that she would not be taking part in the vote on the amendment, in order to avoid any conflict of interest.
“Transparency and the public interest must always prevail, and this does not seem to be the case for everyone within the Commission and this Parliament, with some preferring party interests to rules and principles”, she declared before being applauded by a large section of the Chamber.
When questioned by the press in the hour following the vote, the Commission reiterated its “institutional autonomy” in the recruitment of its staff and did not wish to provide a political response to the MEPs’ request.
Asked about the difference between this case and the one that saw the resignation of chief economist Fiona Scott-Morton following criticism of her recruitment (see EUROPE 13226/17), the institution’s chief spokesman, Eric Mamer, continued to defend the Commission’s internal procedures.
“We are not disrespectful in the European Parliament, that is absolutely not the case. All I did was point out a basic principle [...] and that the Commission complied fully with the recruitment procedures for Mr Pieper,” he insisted.
Eric Mamer also confirmed that Mr Pieper was due to take up his duties next week, on Tuesday 16 April, despite the non-suspensive appeal procedure initiated by Martina Dlabajová and the Parliament’s request (see EUROPE 13387/23). (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)