Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1939Dangos y teitl llawn

SECTION 2 U.K. Appointment and dismissal of the members of the EPPO

Article 14 U.K. Appointment and dismissal of the European Chief Prosecutor

1. The European Parliament and the Council shall appoint by common accord the European Chief Prosecutor for a non-renewable term of 7 years. The Council shall act by simple majority.

2. The European Chief Prosecutor shall be selected from among candidates:

(a) who are active members of the public prosecution service or judiciary of the Member States, or active European Prosecutors;

(b) whose independence is beyond doubt;

(c) who possess the qualifications required for appointment to the highest prosecutorial or judicial offices in their respective Member States and have relevant practical experience of national legal systems, financial investigations and of international judicial cooperation in criminal matters, or have served as European Prosecutors, and

(d) who have sufficient managerial experience and qualifications for the position.

3. The selection shall be based on an open call for candidates, to be published in the Official Journal of the European Union, following which a selection panel shall draw up a shortlist of qualified candidates to be submitted to the European Parliament and to the Council. The selection panel shall comprise twelve persons chosen from among former members of the Court of Justice and the Court of Auditors, former national members of Eurojust, members of national supreme courts, high level prosecutors and lawyers of recognised competence. One of the persons chosen shall be proposed by the European Parliament. The Council shall establish the selection panel’s operating rules and shall adopt a decision appointing its members on a proposal from the Commission.

4. If a European Prosecutor is appointed to be the European Chief Prosecutor, his/her position of European Prosecutor shall without delay be filled in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 16(1) and (2).

5. The Court of Justice may, upon the application of the European Parliament, of the Council or of the Commission, dismiss the European Chief Prosecutor if it finds that he/she is no longer able to perform his/her duties, or that he/she is guilty of serious misconduct.

6. If the European Chief Prosecutor resigns, if he/she is dismissed or leaves his/her position for any reason, the position shall immediately be filled in accordance with the procedure set out in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3.

Article 15 U.K. Appointment and dismissal of the Deputy European Chief Prosecutors

1. The College shall appoint two European Prosecutors to serve as Deputy European Chief Prosecutors for a renewable mandate period of 3 years, which shall not exceed the periods for their mandates as European Prosecutors. The selection process shall be regulated by the internal rules of procedure of the EPPO. The Deputy European Chief Prosecutors shall retain their status as European Prosecutors.

2. The rules and conditions for the exercise of the function of Deputy European Chief Prosecutor shall be set out in the internal rules of procedure of the EPPO. If a European Prosecutor is no longer able to perform his/her duties as Deputy European Chief Prosecutor, the College may decide in accordance with the internal rules of procedure of the EPPO to dismiss the Deputy European Chief Prosecutor from that position.

3. If a Deputy European Chief Prosecutor resigns, is dismissed or leaves his/her position as a Deputy European Chief Prosecutor for any reason, the position shall, without delay, be filled in accordance with the procedure set out in paragraph 1 of this Article. Subject to the rules in Article 16, he/she shall remain European Prosecutor.

Article 16 U.K. Appointment and dismissal of the European Prosecutors

1. Each Member State shall nominate three candidates for the position of European Prosecutor from among candidates:

(a) who are active members of the public prosecution service or judiciary of the relevant Member State;

(b) whose independence is beyond doubt; and

(c) who possess the qualifications required for appointment to high prosecutorial or judicial office in their respective Member States, and who have relevant practical experience of national legal systems, of financial investigations and of international judicial cooperation in criminal matters.

2. After having received the reasoned opinion of the selection panel referred to in Article 14(3), the Council shall select and appoint one of the candidates to be the European Prosecutor of the Member State in question. If the selection panel finds that a candidate does not fulfil the conditions required for the performance of the duties of a European Prosecutor, its opinion shall be binding on the Council.

3. The Council, acting by simple majority, shall select and appoint the European Prosecutors for a non-renewable term of 6 years. The Council may decide to extend the mandate for a maximum of 3 years at the end of the 6-year period.

4. Every 3 years there shall be a partial replacement of one third of the European Prosecutors. The Council, acting by simple majority, shall adopt transitional rules for the appointment of European Prosecutors for and during the first mandate period.

5. The Court of Justice may, upon application of the European Parliament, of the Council or of the Commission, dismiss a European Prosecutor if it finds that he/she is no longer able to perform his/her duties or that he/she is guilty of serious misconduct.

6. If a European Prosecutor resigns, is dismissed or leaves his/her position for any other reason, the position shall without delay be filled in accordance with the procedure set out in paragraphs 1 and 2. If the European Prosecutor in question also serves as Deputy European Chief Prosecutor, he/she shall automatically be dismissed from the latter position.

7. The College shall, upon nomination of each European Prosecutor, designate one of the European Delegated Prosecutors of the same Member State to substitute the European Prosecutor in case he/she is unable to carry out his/her functions or left his/her position according to paragraphs 5 and 6.

Where the College acknowledges the need for substitution, the designated person shall act as an interim European Prosecutor, pending replacement or return of the European Prosecutor, for a period not exceeding 3 months. The College may, upon request, prolong that period if necessary. The mechanisms and modalities of temporary substitution shall be determined and governed by the internal rules of procedure of the EPPO.

Article 17 U.K. Appointment and dismissal of the European Delegated Prosecutors

1. Upon a proposal by the European Chief Prosecutor, the College shall appoint the European Delegated Prosecutors nominated by the Member States. The College may reject a person who has been nominated if he/she does not fulfil the criteria referred to in paragraph 2. The European Delegated Prosecutors shall be appointed for a renewable term of 5 years.

2. The European Delegated Prosecutors shall, from the time of their appointment as European Delegated Prosecutors until dismissal, be active members of the public prosecution service or judiciary of the respective Member States which nominated them. Their independence shall be beyond doubt and they shall possess the necessary qualifications and relevant practical experience of their national legal system.

3. The College shall dismiss a European Delegated Prosecutor if it finds that he/she no longer fulfils the requirements set out in paragraph 2, is unable to perform his/her duties, or is guilty of serious misconduct.

4. If a Member State decides to dismiss, or to take disciplinary action against, a national prosecutor who has been appointed as European Delegated Prosecutor for reasons not connected with his/her responsibilities under this Regulation, it shall inform the European Chief Prosecutor before taking such action. A Member State may not dismiss, or take disciplinary action against, a European Delegated Prosecutor for reasons connected with his/her responsibilities under this Regulation without the consent of the European Chief Prosecutor. If the European Chief Prosecutor does not consent, the Member State concerned may request the College to review the matter.

5. If a European Delegated Prosecutor resigns, if his/her services are no longer necessary to fulfil the duties of the EPPO, or if he/she is dismissed or leaves his/her position for any other reason, the relevant Member State shall immediately inform the European Chief Prosecutor and, where necessary, nominate another prosecutor to be appointed as the new European Delegated Prosecutor in accordance with paragraph 1.

Article 18 U.K. Status of the Administrative Director

1. The Administrative Director shall be engaged as a temporary agent of the EPPO under Article 2(a) of the Conditions of Employment.

2. The Administrative Director shall be appointed by the College from a list of candidates proposed by the European Chief Prosecutor, following an open and transparent selection procedure in accordance with the internal rules of procedure of the EPPO. For the purpose of concluding the contract of the Administrative Director, the EPPO shall be represented by the European Chief Prosecutor.

3. The term of office of the Administrative Director shall be 4 years. By the end of that period, the College shall undertake an assessment which takes into account an evaluation of the performance of the Administrative Director.

4. The College, acting on a proposal from the European Chief Prosecutor which takes into account the assessment referred to in paragraph 3, may extend once the term of office of the Administrative Director for a period of no more than 4 years.

5. An Administrative Director whose term of office has been extended may not participate in another selection procedure for the same post at the end of the overall period.

6. The Administrative Director shall be accountable to the European Chief Prosecutor and the College.

7. Upon a decision of the College on the basis of a two-thirds majority of its members and without prejudice to the applicable rules pertaining to the termination of contract in the Staff Regulations and the Conditions of Employment, the Administrative Director may be removed from the EPPO.

Article 19 U.K. Responsibilities of the Administrative Director

1. For administrative and budgetary purposes, the EPPO shall be managed by its Administrative Director.

2. Without prejudice to the powers of the College or the European Chief Prosecutor, the Administrative Director shall be independent in the performance of his/her duties and shall neither seek nor take instructions from any government or any other body.

3. The Administrative Director shall be the legal representative of the EPPO for administrative and budgetary purposes. The Administrative Director shall implement the budget of the EPPO.

4. The Administrative Director shall be responsible for the implementation of the administrative tasks assigned to the EPPO, in particular:

(a) the day-to-day administration of the EPPO and staff management;

(b) implementing the decisions adopted by the European Chief Prosecutor or the College;

(c) preparing a proposal for the annual and multi-annual programming document and submitting it to the European Chief Prosecutor;

(d) implementing the annual and multi-annual programming documents and reporting to the College on their implementation;

(e) preparing the administrative and budgetary parts of the annual report on the EPPO’s activities;

(f) preparing an action plan following-up on the conclusions of the internal or external audit reports, evaluations and investigations, including those of the European Data Protection Supervisor and OLAF and reporting to them and to the College twice a year;

(g) preparing an internal anti-fraud strategy for the EPPO and presenting it to the College for approval;

(h) preparing a proposal for the draft financial rules applicable to the EPPO, and submitting it to the European Chief Prosecutor;

(i) preparing a proposal for the EPPO’s draft statement of estimates of revenues and expenditures, and submitting it to the European Chief Prosecutor;

(j) providing necessary administrative support to facilitate the operational work of the EPPO;

(k) providing support to the European Chief Prosecutor and the Deputy European Chief Prosecutors in the carrying out of their duties.

Article 20 U.K. Provisional administrative arrangements of the EPPO

1. Based on provisional budgetary appropriations allocated in its own budget, the Commission shall be responsible for the establishment and initial administrative operation of the EPPO until the latter has the capacity to implement its own budget. For that purpose the Commission may:

(a) designate, after consulting with the Council, a Commission official to act as interim Administrative Director and exercise the duties assigned to the Administrative Director, including the powers conferred by the Staff Regulations and the Conditions of Employment on the appointing authority regarding administrative staff of the EPPO, in respect of any staff positions which need to be filled before the Administrative Director takes up his or her duties in accordance with Article 18;

(b) offer assistance to the EPPO, in particular by seconding a limited number of Commission officials necessary to carry out the administrative activities of the EPPO under the responsibility of the interim Administrative Director.

2. The interim Administrative Director may authorise all payments covered by appropriations entered in the EPPO’s budget and may conclude contracts, including staff contracts.

3. Once the College takes up its duties in accordance with Article 9(1), the interim Administrative Director shall exercise his/her duties in accordance with Article 18. The interim Administrative Director shall cease to exercise that function once the Administrative Director has taken up duties following appointment by the College in accordance with Article 18.

4. Until the College takes up its duties in accordance with Article 9(1), the Commission shall exercise its functions set out in this Article in consultation with a group of experts composed of representatives of the Member States.