Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1022495
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 5 SEPTEMBER 2018 6 NEWS MATTHEW VELLA THE European Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly, has found four instances of maladministration in the appointment of the Eu- ropean Commission's Secre- tary-General in February 2018. The swift and controversial promotion of Jean-Claude Juncker's chief-of-staff Martin Selmayr, 47, to secretary-gen- eral of the European Commis- sion, became a serious mat- ter of debate in the European Parliament after the EC was accused of rubber-stamping the surprise nomination of Selmayr, both admired and feared eminence-grise to the EU boss. "The maladministration arose due to the Commission not following the relevant rules correctly either in letter or in spirit," Emily O'Reilly said in a statement. "The Commission created an artificial sense of urgency to fill the post of Secretary-General in order to justify not publish- ing a vacancy notice. It also organised a Deputy Secretary- General selection procedure, not to fill that role, but rather to make Mr Selmayr Secretary- General in a rapid two-step ap- pointment." The Ombudsman said the Commission's communica- tions on this issue, which raised valid concerns, have been defensive, evasive and at times combative. "Our inquiry was based on an inspection of thousands of pages of Commission internal documents, and it shows the precise steps the Commission took in order to make the ap- pointment process appear nor- mal. "All of this risked jeopardis- ing the hard-won record of high EU administrative stand- ards and consequently, the public trust. "The College of Commission- ers collectively is responsible for the maladministration in this case. It is extraordinary that no Commissioner seemed to question the Secretary-Gen- eral appointment procedure, which in the end raised valid widespread concerns," O'Reilly said. The Ombudsman called on the Commission to develop a specific and separate ap- pointment procedure for its Secretary-General to prevent a repeat of this happening. The procedure should include publishing a vacancy notice, placing it on the agenda of the weekly Commissioners' meet- ing and also including exter- nal experts in the consultative committee for the appoint- ment. The scandal was down to the fact that Juncker – whose term ends in 2019 – admitted having known over two years in advance of the departure of the outgoing EC secretary- general, and arranged to have Selmayr interviewed for the va- cant post of deputy secretary- general and then immediately elevated to the top job: some newspapers dubbed it a classic case of "parachutisme", others a "coup". Selmayr's appointment be- came a matter of intrigue in Brussels, which had critics ac- cusing the bloc of introducing greater German control of sev- eral of the EU's institutions. The Commission was also disparaging of the journalist who broke the story, Jean Qua- tremer of Libération, who was referred to by a commission spokesman as "Robespierre". Quatremeur revealed that Juncker kept his fellow com- missioners in the dark about both the retirement of secre- tary-general Alexander Italian- er, and Selmayr's appointment until minutes before they were asked to confirm Selmayr in the job. The deputy job was adver- tised internally on 31 January. Selmayr and another candidate were interviewed for the job, as well as being granted an in- terview with commissioner for personnel Günther Oettinger, on 15 and 16 February. The controversy deepened because the commission- ers were asked to ratify first Selmayr's appointment to deputy secretary-general on 21 February – a post recently vacated and for which he was interviewed according to the rules – and then immediately rubber-stamp his elevation to the top job the same morning that the Italianer vacancy was announced. The other candidate was none other than Selmayr's former deputy Clara Martinez Alberola, who has now neatly succeeded him as the head of Juncker's private office. Juncker announced to the press only Selmayr's promo- tion without referring to the Byzantine process employed for these promotions: if Junck- er knew, as he said, of Italian- er's departure date since 2015, why was Selmayr propelled to the job in this way? Juncker claims he did not go public on Italianer's departure date so as not to undermine his ability to do his job. A spokes- man refused to say whether Selmayr knew of Italianer's de- parture. Instances of maladministration in full The Ombudsman found that there was a failure to take ap- propriate measures to avoid the risk of a conflict of interests arising from the involvement of Selmayr or other members of the President's Cabinet in the decision-making leading to the creation and approval of the vacancy notice for Deputy Secretary-General – a vacancy for which Selmayr highly likely knew he would apply for and later did. There was a failure to en- sure that the composition of the Consultative Commit- tee on Appointments (CCA), for the selection of a Deputy Secretary-General, was in ac- cordance with Article 10 of the CCA Rules of Procedure. The EC then held a selec- tion procedure for Deputy Secretary-General, which did not serve its stated purpose to fill the vacancy, but rather only to ensure that Selmayr would be eligible for reassignment as Secretary-General. As the impending retirement of Italianer was kept secret, a Maladministration in Brussels: EC must new procedure to avoid 'Selmayrgate' EU Ombudsman finds four instances of maladministration after the rubber-stamping that saw Juncker's 'monster' made EC secretary-general Martin Selmayr EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker