'Cronyism' MEPs BLOCK bid to force Juncker to explain Selmayr hire
LEADING MEPs have been accused of “cronyism” after blocking a bid to ask European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to come and explain the controversial appointment of secretary-general Martin Selmayr tomorrow.
MEPs had hoped to quiz Mr Juncker tomorrow about Mr Selmayr's appointment
The decision angered Green MEP Sven Giegold
Prior to this, six political coordinators, one for each European Parliamentary party group sat in the European Parliament, discussed tomorrow’s hearing, at which Günther Oettinger, European Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources, will be grilled by MEPs on the subject of Mr Selmayr.
The amendment, tabled by the Greens/EFA group, stated: “The Parliament is concerned by the lack of transparency and a possible breach of Union's rules on recruitment by recent appointment of the Commission's President's Head of Office as the new Secretary General of the Commission.”
It also called on Mr Juncker to come before tomorrow’s CONT committee hearing to explain Mr Selmayr’s appointment.
However, the proposal was defeated by a single vote, with the centre-right European People’s Party EPP (of which Mr Juncker is a member) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group (ALDE) both voting against, and the Socialists and Democrats (S&Ds) abstaining.
The Parliament's Brexit co-ordinator Guy Verhoftstadt said the appointment was "bad for Europe"
In addition, the Greens proposed another amendment to postpone agreement of the budget until the decision had been thoroughly scrutinised, which was also voted down.
Greens/EFA MEP Bart Staes, who sits on the CONT committee, said: "It beggars belief that the conservatives, liberals and socialists could not bring themselves to criticise the European Commission's handling of Martin Selmayr's appointment.
“Tomorrow's hearing should have been an opportunity to strongly challenge the Commission but the EPP and others blocked our demand to invite President Juncker and Selmayr to face questions and have a real debate.
“With serious concerns about cronyism, now is not the time for the grand coalition to be going soft on the Commission."
Another strong display of two-faced politics by the large groups in the @Europarl_EN. During the debate they condemn the rise to power by #Selmayr. However, when they vote, they vote the complete opposite. Actions speak louder than words! #Selmayrgate https://t.co/8NnTeeQ0dn
— Bart Staes (@BartStaes) March 26, 2018
Fellow Greens/EFA MEP Sven Giegold added: "It is time for Juncker to proactively clear the doubts up on Selmayr's
appointment.
“The EU Commission puts up a poor show in the Selmayr case.
“It must increase its efforts towards transparency and integrity.
“We need more open procedures for appointing top staff. Issuing defensive statements in the middle of the night is not going to restore confidence.
Dutch MEP RAGES over appointment of Martin Selmayr
“The Commission needs to learn that transparency and democratic scrutiny are in their best interests.
“We are now four weeks into a scandal that could have been avoided if the Commission was willing to present its candidate for a top job for proper scrutiny."
As secretary-general, Mr Selmayr leads the EU civil service of 33,000 staff, with officials responsible for Brexit contingency planning reporting to him.
The appointment has raised eyebrows across Europe, with the governments of Hungary and the Netherlands among those voicing their concern.
MEPs said the hiring process for his job left the EU a laughing stock that would prove more damaging than the existence of Eurosceptic parties.
European Parliament Brexit co-ordinator Guy Verhofstadt insists the way the European Commission has handled the appointment of Martin Selmayr is “bad for Europe”.
The European Commission has insisted no rules were broken in hiring Mr Selmayr.