Fight to Pick EU's First Chief Prosecutor to Last Months Longer

(Bloomberg) -- European Union negotiations to appoint the bloc’s first chief prosecutor were suspended indefinitely when the EU Parliament canceled a fourth round of talks with member countries, dragging out a contest for the job between a Romanian woman and a Frenchman.

The European Parliament decided on Wednesday in Brussels to hand its negotiating mandate to the next assembly slated to take office in July following EU-wide legislative elections in late May, according to a spokeswoman.

Battle to Pick EU’s First Chief Prosecutor Enters Crucial Phase

The move ends the work of a three-member EU Parliament team tasked in early March with fighting for the candidacy of Laura Codruta Kovesi, who was fired by Romania’s ruling Socialist Democrats after she put dozens of corrupt politicians behind bars.

EU governments favor Jean-Francois Bohnert of France for the post, which involves investigating and prosecuting crimes such as fraud against the bloc’s 140 billion-euro ($158 billion) annual budget.

Bohnert on Feb. 20 received almost twice as much support from governments as Kovesi did, whereas she gained momentum a week later when the EU Parliament’s justice committee endorsed her with 26 votes compared with 22 for him.

The next EU Parliament will have the option of continuing negotiations on the basis of the current mandate or restarting the assembly’s vetting procedure from scratch, said the spokeswoman for the assembly.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Stearns in Brussels at jstearns2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, John Martens

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