Nomination to the European Court of Auditors: Role of the European Parliament in the appointment procedure

Briefing 07-12-2020

Members of the European Court of Auditors (ECA) are appointed by the Council, after consultation with the European Parliament. The ECA consists of 27 members, one national from each of the 27 European Union Member States. Candidates for membership are proposed by their respective Member States, and appointed for a renewable term of six years. Members are required to perform their duties in complete independence and in the general interest of the EU. This Briefing takes appointments since 2009 (the beginning of the seventh parliamentary term) as its starting-point. At the end of that legislature, Parliament adopted an important resolution detailing the principles and selection criteria for the nomination of members of the ECA, such as the requirement that members do not serve more than two terms of office. Even though the opinions delivered by the European Parliament are not legally binding, they have become a powerful tool in the appointment procedure. With the adoption of a resolution in 2014, Parliament further shaped the selection criteria it will apply when examining a candidate. The publicity surrounding these hearings and the questionnaire answered by the candidates make it difficult for the Council to over-ride any negative opinion delivered by Parliament. The analysis illustrates the extent to which Parliament's democratic scrutiny of the ECA influences the process of appointment: even though the Council has three times appointed a candidate despite an unfavourable opinion by Parliament, in two other cases, nominees withdrew their candidacy after Parliament delivered a negative opinion, and in another, the government of the Member State concerned withdrew the nomination and proposed a new candidate.