Court of Auditors: MEPs back five members

New members: France and Luxembourg

François-Roger Cazala, nominated by France, was backed by MEPs by 568 votes to 42, with 55 abstentions. Cazala is a member and a former Vice-Chair of the Board of Auditors of the European Stability Mechanism.

Joëlle Elvinger, nominated by Luxembourg, was endorsed by 512 votes to 79, with 70 abstentions. She is currently a Member of Luxembourg’s Chamber of Deputies and a lawyer.

Renewals: Germany, Greece and the Netherlands

MEPs voted by 497 votes to 130, with 32 abstentions to renew the mandate of the German ECA member Klaus-Heiner Lehne, who is currently also president of the Court. He has been a long-standing member of the European Parliament and the former chair of the Committee on Legal Affairs.

Nikolaos Milionis, nominated by Greece, was renewed in his office by 590 votes to 15, with 47 abstentions. Alex Brenninkmeijer, put forward by the Netherlands, was backed by 555 votes to 17, with 47 abstentions. They both have been ECA members since 2014.

Next steps

Once they have obtained the support of the full house, the appointments need to be sealed by the Council.

Background

The ECA, the EU’s independent external auditor, has 28 members, one from each EU country.

They are appointed for a renewable term of six years by the Council, after consulting the European Parliament. Each member has their own “portfolio” and is responsible for checking the EU’s finances in a particular subject area.

The ECA president is elected by its members.

The Court, based in Luxembourg, assists the European Parliament in its role of watchdog for the implementation of the EU budget, in particular through the discharge procedure, ensuring the interests of European taxpayers.

The five members were heard and subsequently endorsed by the Budgetary Control committee on 12 November.