EP-Commissie tegen Kroatische kandidaat voor Europese Rekenkamer (en)

George Pufan's nomination as the Romanian member of the Court of Auditors was narrowly endorsed by Parliament's Budgetary Control Committee on Monday. But the committee advised Parliament against endorsing the Croatian candidate, Neven Mates. Both nominations will nevertheless be put to a plenary vote in June.

Mr Pufan's nomination was approved by 14 votes to 13, but Mr Mates's was rejected by 16 votes to 11.

Mr Pufan is currently head of the Romanian Court of Accounts, which he has headed for over ten years.

He is the third Romanian candidate to be put forward, after Bucharest withdrew the candidature Mircea Vasile Popescu and Leonard Orban i withdrew his own, after a negative vote in plenary. The Romanian seat in the Court of Auditors has been vacant since 1 January 2013.

Mr Mates, who has served as head of mission in Central and Eastern Europe at the International Monetary Fund, is currently a senior advisor to the governor of the Croatian National Bank. If endorsed in plenary, he would become the first Croatian member in the Court of Auditors.

Procedure

Members of the Court of Auditors, seated in Luxembourg, are appointed for six years. The Council, after consulting the European Parliament decides upon the proposals made by each member state.

To prepare for a hearing in Parliament, a candidate is asked to answer a questionnaire prepared by the Budgetary Control Committee.

At the hearing, candidates may make a five-minute opening statement, followed by a 25-minute question and reply session with committee members.

The nomination is later put to a vote by Parliament as a whole, and then goes to Council for a formal approval.

In the chair: Michael Theurer i (ALDE, DE)

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