Parliament's rights in the appointment procedure of future Executive Directors of the European Environment Agency - amendment of Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 401/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Environment Agency and the European Environment Information and Observation Network

The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety unanimously adopted the own-initiative report by Matthias GROOTE (S&D, DE) with recommendations to the Commission on Parliament's rights in the appointment procedure of future Executive Directors of the European Environment Agency – amendment of Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 401/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Environment Agency and the  European Environment Information and Observation Network.

The initiative report is presented in accordance with Rule 42 of the European Parliament’s Rules of Procedure in which the Parliament may request the Commission, pursuant to Article 225 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, to submit to it any appropriate proposal for the adoption of a new act or the amendment of an existing act, by adopting a resolution on the basis of an own-initiative report drawn up by the committee responsible.

To recall, the first subparagraph of Article 9(1) of Regulation (EC) No 401/2009 on the European Environment Agency and the European Environment Information and Observation Network includes no provision granting the European Parliament a formal right to hear the candidate selected to be appointed Executive Director of the European Environment Agency prior to his or her appointment. This requirement is present in the regulations establishing other agencies of the same kind but does not appear in this Regulation due to the fact that the Regulation establishing the EEA is older than the other regulations, dating back (in its original version) to 1990.

It is therefore necessary to update and align the EEA Regulation to more recent practice as regards the appointment of the Executive Director in order to grant the European Parliament the formal right to hear the candidate selected to be appointed Executive Director of the European Environment Agency.

The motion for a resolution requests the Commission to submit as soon as possible, a proposal for an act amending Regulation (EC) No 401/2009, following the detailed recommendations set out in the Annex hereto:

Amendment to Article 9(1) of Regulation (EC) No 401/2009, the first subparagraph: the text states that the Agency shall be headed by an Executive Director appointed by the Management Board on the basis of a list of candidates proposed by the Commission following a call for expressions of interest published in the Official Journal of the European Union and in other periodicals or on internet sites.

Before being appointed, the candidate selected by the Management Board shall be invited as soon as possible to make a statement before the European Parliament and to answer questions from its Members.

In advance of that hearing, which is to take place in the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety committee, the candidate shall provide a written roadmap that encompasses his or her strategy for their five-year term of office.