It is a designation process that has been particularly criticized for its lack of transparency. The management of the European Parliament appointed its new Secretary General on Monday evening, a strategic administrative position in the functioning of the institution.
Management body of the European institution, bringing together the president and the fourteen vice-presidents, “the office of the European Parliament has appointed Mr. Alessandro Chiocchetti as the new secretary general of the institution” with a start on January 1, announced the European Parliament. Aged 53, this Italian had been the chief of staff of the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola (EPP, right) since her election in January.
A non-public meeting
This decision was taken in Strasbourg during a non-public meeting. The list of candidates for this most important administrative post in the European Parliament was not published beforehand, nor was the procedure for deciding between the candidates. “The procedure allows the members of the office to hear four different candidates and to ask them questions”, explained Monday evening the Parliament, adding that the appointment took place “by a very large majority” and “after long deliberations”.
The appointment of the previous secretary general, the German Klaus Welle, who had been in office since 2009, had already been accused of great opacity. His departure, amid negotiations between political groups after the midterm elections, was announced in June. “This is an unjustified accelerated procedure which seriously damages the image of the institution, while there is enough time to replace the current Secretary General until the end of the year”, criticized the Spaniard Iratxe Garcia Perez, president of the S&D group (left), the second political force in the European Parliament, behind the EPP.
Transparency international wants new rules
In an open letter to the members of the office, the anti-corruption NGO Transparency International called on them on Friday “to take urgent measures to improve the transparency and integrity of the European Parliament’s recruitment procedures”. In 2018, the appointment of the German Martin Selmayr, then chief of staff of former Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, as Secretary General of the European Commission, a year before the European elections, had already triggered a controversy.