Court of Auditors: Parliament endorses two new members
- Irish and Swedish candidate members endorsed
- MEPs urge member states to hold open competitions to select candidates
- Council to finalise the appointments
MEPs endorsed Irish and Swedish candidates for the European Court of Auditors (ECA) mandates on Wednesday.
Irish candidate Tony James Murphy, nominated by the Irish government following a public selection process, has over 30 years’ experience of auditing at both national and European levels. He is currently a director at the ECA. In the resolution endorsing Mr Murphy’s nomination, MEPs also called on other member states to consider emulating the Irish procedure and selecting candidates via open competitions.
Swedish candidate Eva Lindström, currently State Secretary to the Minister for Enterprise and Innovation, served as Sweden’s Auditor General from 2003 to 2010. She has also held the post of the Deputy Chair at the Swedish Fiscal Policy Council.
Mr Murphy was endorsed by 592 votes to 56 with 35 abstentions, and Mrs Lindström by 588 votes to 43 with 48 abstentions.
Both candidates had already been endorsed by the Budgetary Control Committee.
Next steps
Having consulted Parliament, the Council will now decide on the appointment of each candidate. The mandates of the current Irish and Swedish ECA members run out on 28 February.
Quick facts
The European Court of Auditors, the Luxembourg-based EU financial watchdog, has 28 members, one from each EU member state. They are appointed for a renewable term of six years. The Council, after consulting the European Parliament, decides on the candidate presented by each country. If Parliament’s opinion on a candidate is unfavourable, the President asks the Council to withdraw it and submit a new one to Parliament. However, the Council can also proceed with the appointment of candidates who have been rejected by the Parliament.
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Janis KRASTINS
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