George Hyzler has been formally approved as a member nominee of the European Court of Auditors (ECA) by the European Parliament on Tuesday, with 551 out of 629 members voting in favour.
This is the second stage that Hyzler needed to undergo. The last stage of this process will be in June 2022, when the EU council will take the last vote.
During today’s plenary, a total of 629 members in the European Parliament voted, with 551 voting in favour of Hyzler’s nomination, whilst 33 members voted against him. A total of 45 votes were considered as abstained votes.
Rapporteur MEP Angelika Winzig had put forward the proposal to the plenary to have Hyzler appointed as an auditor. Hyzler will replace Leo Brincat, Malta’s appointment to the ECA, when his five-year term ends in September.
Hyzler, who currently serves as the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life, was nominated by the Maltese government to serve on the ECA in January of this year. His ethics investigations over the past few years have led to the resignation of former minister Justyne Caruana and former parliamentary secretary Rosianne Cutajar.
Hyzler passed the first stage of his European Court Auditors grilling with flying colours around two weeks ago as 25 members of the European Parliament’s CONT committee approved his nomination.
During the first stage, Hzyler had said that, through the ECA, he wishes to play a part in realising the aspiration expressed by EP President Roberta Metsola, when she stated “I want people to believe in Europe. To re-capture that sense of hope and enthusiasm in our project. To stand up for those values that unite us as Europeans.”
“I believe that my well-received contribution in the spheres of integrity, transparency and accountability in Malta can also be beneficial to the improvements undertaken by the ECA in recent months,” he had said.
Nationalist Party congratulates George Hyzler on securing his post
Following the vote, the Nationalist Party issued a statement congratulating Hyzler on securing his position as a member of the ECA.
“The party believes that with Hyzler’s work, he will surely make a positive impact in this European institution, as he has always done for this country,” the statement read.