Court of Auditors: MEPs demand the Council submit a new Polish candidate

The European Parliament vote to partially renew the European Court of Auditors (ECA), as the terms of the Czech, Latvian, Polish and Slovenian members expire on 6 May 2022.

MEPs demand the Council not to extend the term of office of the Polish ECA member Marek Opiola, with 534 MEPs voting against his candidacy, 151 in favour and 9 abstaining. Parliament had already rejected the nomination of Mr Opiola in 2020 but he was appointed by the Council, which is not obliged to follow Parliament’s recommendation.

On Wednesday MEPs gave a favourable opinion to the prolongation of the mandates of Czech ECA member Jan Gregor (656 votes to 22 and 16 abstentions) and Latvian member Mihails Kozlovs (630 votes to 45 and 19 abstentions).

They also endorsed the Slovenian candidate, Jorg Kristijan Petrovič, 487 votes to 196 and 11 abstentions.

About the nominees

Mr Marek Opiola has been a member of the Court of Auditors since February 2021. He replaced Janusz Wojcechowsky, following the latter’s appointment as EU Commissioner. Previously Mr Opiola served as a Vice-President of the Supreme Audit office in Poland. See his full CV in the draft report.

Mr Jan Gregor has been an ECA member since 2016. He previously served as Deputy Minister of Public Budgets Section in the Czech Ministry of Finance. See his full CV in the draft report.

Mr Mihails Kozlovs, a member of the ECA m since 2016, worked as a Deputy Director at the Latvian Ministry of Finance and at the Latvian permanent representation in Brussels. See his full CV in the draft report.

Mr Jorg Kristijan Petrovič was nominated by the Slovenian government to replace Mr Slamo Jereb. Mr Petrovič currently serves as a member and first deputy president of the Slovenian Court of Audit. See his full CV in the draft report.

Background

As set out in the EU Treaty, each Member State proposes its candidate to sit on the ECA. The Council, after consultating Parliament, adopts the list of members for a term of six years.

In 2016, MEPs delivered a negative opinion on the previous Polish ECA member Janusz Wojciechowski, who was nevertheless appointed.