Source: European Parliament
1. The individual assessments of candidates in a selection procedure are confidential and covered both by the secrecy of panel deliberations, as recognised by the case-law of the EU courts[1], and by data protection rules. For any selection procedure that involves several stages, the results obtained by a candidate who is successful in one stage of the process do not prejudge the outcome of the subsequent stages. The preselection panel and the consultative committee on appointments (CCA) identified the candidates with the necessary qualifications and competences to proceed to the subsequent stage. There was no ranking between the candidates shortlisted by the CCA when they were proposed for interviews by the competent Commissioners. The shortlist was based on the previous stages that identified the best qualified candidates following the results of the preselection panel and the external assessment reports summarising the strengths and areas for development of the candidates. For the specific selection procedure, both the President and the Commissioner in charge of internal market are considered as ‘portfolio Commissioners’, since, according to the ‘Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) Relief Package Communication’, the EU SME Envoy ‘shall report directly to the President, while also reporting to the Commissioner for Internal Market on all SME-related activities conducted in conjunction with the services of the Directorate General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs’[2].
2. As set out in the policy on senior officials, ‘merit is the dominant criterion in decisions on senior official appointments[3]’. Geographical or gender balance are general policy considerations. Appointments of senior officials fall within the institutional autonomy of each institution and each institution has a margin of discretion when deciding among different qualified candidates. The Commission took the appointment decision based on the vast experience and track record of Mr Pieper in the field of SMEs.
3. The Commission does not comment on assertions made by third parties and maintains that the selection procedure was run in accordance with the established rules and principles, which are publicly available and easily accessible.
For the sake of completeness, it should be noted that Mr Pieper decided not to take up his post as EU SME Envoy on 16 April 2024 as planned.
- [1] See the judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU of 4 July 1996, Parliament v Innamorati, EU:C:1996:276, paras. 24-30 and, more recently, in the context of a selection procedure for a post in the Regulatory Scrutiny Board, the judgment of the General Court of 21 December 2022, OM v Commission, T-118/22, EU:T:2022:849, para. 24 and the case-law cited.
- [2] See Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, SME Relief Package, Strasbourg, 12.9.2023 COM(2023) 535 final, p. 5.
- [3] https://commission.europa.eu/jobs-european-commission/job-opportunities/managers-european-commission_en