Call for expressions of interest for external experts to be appointed as members and alternates of the Administrative Board of Review of the European Central Bank (Frankfurt am Main, Germany)

2014/C 133 A/01

1.   Introduction

Council Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013 (1) establishes the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) on the basis of Article 127(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The SSM will be composed of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the national competent authorities of the Member States whose currency is the euro, with the possibility to establish a close cooperation with the competent authorities of Member States whose currency is not the euro. The ECB will be responsible for the overall functioning of the SSM.

Pursuant to Article 24(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013, the ECB will establish an Administrative Board of Review (the ‘Administrative Board’) for the purposes of carrying out an internal administrative review of decisions taken by the ECB in exercising the powers conferred on it by Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013 following a request for review.

The ECB therefore organises this call for expressions of interest to appoint the five members and two alternates of the Administrative Board in accordance with Article 4 of Decision ECB/2014/16 (2).

2.   The ECB and its Administrative Board of Review

The Administrative Board is an integral part of the SSM. Any natural or legal person may in the cases referred to Article 24(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013 request a review of an ECB decision taken under that Regulation and addressed to that person, or which directly and individually concerns that person, apart from decisions of the ECB’s Governing Council taken under Article 24(7) of that Regulation.

3.   Composition of the Administrative Board

In accordance with Article 24(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013, the Administrative Board is composed of five individuals and two alternates of high repute. It will have sufficient resources and expertise to assess the exercise of the powers of the ECB under Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013. Members of the Administrative Board and the two alternates will be appointed by the ECB for a term of five years, which may be extended once, and act independently and in the public interest.

The two alternates will temporarily replace the members of the Administrative Board in case of their temporary incapacity, their death, resignation or removal from office or if, in the context of a particular request for review, there are justified reasons for serious concern as to the existence of a conflict of interest, e.g. where a member of the Administrative Board has a private or personal interest which may influence, or appear to influence, the impartial and objective performance of their duties.

The members of the Administrative Board and their alternates will be nominated by the Executive Board, following consultation of the Supervisory Board, and appointed by the ECB’s Governing Council. The Governing Council will also lay down the terms and conditions of appointment of the members and alternates of the Administrative Board.

4.   The Chair and the Vice-Chair of the Administrative Board

The Administrative Board will designate its Chair and its Vice-Chair from among its members. The Chair will ensure the functioning of the Administrative Board, the efficient examination of reviews and adherence to the Operating Rules. The Vice-Chair will assist the Chair in the performance of their duties and take their place when the Chair is prevented from acting or at the request of the Chair, to ensure the functioning of the Administrative Board.

5.   Qualifications and experience of Administrative Board members and alternates

In accordance with Article 24(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013, Administrative Board members and alternates will be chosen on the basis of their high repute and of their proven record of relevant knowledge and professional experience, including supervisory experience, to a sufficiently high level in the fields of banking or other financial services. Current ECB staff, as well as current staff of competent authorities or other national or European Union (EU) institutions, bodies, offices and agencies who are involved in carrying out the tasks conferred on the ECB by Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013, are excluded from the selection. Administrative Board members and alternates must not be engaged in any other occupation in the banking or financial field that could put them in a situation of conflict of interests and limit their capacity to hear appeals. They must be available at short notice to hear appeals against decisions of the ECB.

The appointment of the members of the Administrative Board and the two alternates will be conducted so as to ensure, to the extent possible, an appropriate geographical and gender balance across the Member States.

Applications will be subject to a comparative evaluation carried out by the ECB. In particular, the following criteria will be taken into account:

(a)    Selection criteria

Candidates must have all of the following skills and competencies:

In addition, it is a distinct advantage for candidates to have any of the following skills and competencies:

(b)    Eligibility criteria

Candidates must meet all of the following eligibility criteria (to be fulfilled on the closing date for applications). They must:

In addition, an advanced or good command of other official EU languages would be an asset.

6.   Remuneration

The successful candidates will receive remuneration commensurate with the tasks assigned to them.

7.   Appointment

The selection procedure will be conducted in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013 and the Operating Rules of the Administrative Board. The members of the Administrative Board and their alternates will be appointed by the ECB’s Governing Council in a personal capacity and may not therefore delegate their responsibilities to another member or to a third party.

8.   Independence and declarations of commitments and interest

The members and alternates of the Administrative Board will act independently and in the public interest. For that purpose, they must make a public declaration of commitments and a public declaration of interests indicating any direct or indirect interest which might be considered prejudicial to their independence, or the absence of any such interest. They must also declare that they will comply with rules on confidentiality.

9.   Privacy statement

The ECB will process all personal information on candidates pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) and Decision ECB/2007/1 (4). This applies, in particular, to the confidentiality and security of such data. The ECB’s Director General Legal Services will be identified as controller for the processing of personal data related to the ECB’s involvement in the selection procedure on the basis of this call for expressions of interest. The purpose of the data processing is to organise the selection and appointment of the members of the Administrative Board. All personal data will be processed solely for this purpose.

The recipients of the candidates’ personal data will be the members of the Selection Committee, the ECB’s Executive Board and the ECB’s Supervisory Board and the members of the ECB’s Governing Council.

The ECB may keep successful candidates’ data for a period of five years from the end of the term of office. In the case of unsuccessful candidates, the data will be kept for two years following the completion of the selection procedure. In the case of legal disputes, the above retention periods will be extended for two years after completion of all relevant proceedings.

Candidates have the right to access their data and to update or correct their identification data. Data demonstrating compliance with the eligibility criteria and selection criteria may, however, not be updated or corrected after the closing date of this call for expressions of interest in order to ensure compliance with the principles of equal access and non-discrimination and to ensure that the selection procedure is robust, transparent and fair for all candidates.

Candidates have the right to access their evaluation data throughout the procedure. To safeguard the confidentiality of the deliberations and decision-making of the Selection Committee, the ECB’s Executive Board, the ECB’s Supervisory Board and the Governing Council and to protect the rights and freedoms of the other candidates, the candidates’ access shall be restricted to their own submissions and to the parts of the assessment that relate to them.

Candidates are entitled to have recourse to the European Data Protection Supervisor at any time.

Once appointed, the names of Administrative Board members and alternates will be published on the ECB’s website.

10.   Application procedure

For applications to be valid, they must be submitted in accordance with the procedures set out below and comprise the following:

Applications must be submitted no later than 21 calendar days following the publication of this call for expressions of interest in the Official Journal of the European Union (the date of receipt will be taken as proof). Applications may be submitted by registered post or by private courier service to the following address:

European Central Bank, Director General Legal Services, Kaiserstraße 29, 60311 Frankfurt, Germany

The application must be signed by the candidate.

Applications submitted after the above mentioned deadline or via other means, e.g. via fax, will not be taken into account. Unclear or incomplete applications will not be considered. In order to facilitate the selection process, all communication with candidates concerning this call for expressions of interest will be in English.

Candidates must keep the ECB informed in writing of any change in their situation or address without delay, so that their application may be kept up to date.

All candidates applying to this call for expressions of interest will be informed about the outcome of the selection and appointment process.

(1)  Council Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013 of 15 October 2013 conferring specific tasks on the European Central Bank concerning policies relating to the prudential supervision of credit institutions (OJ L 287, 29.10.2013, p. 63).

(2)  Decision ECB/2014/16 of 14 April 2014 concerning the establishment of the Administrative Board of Review and its Operating Rules (not yet published in the Official Journal).

(3)  Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data (OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1).

(4)  Decision ECB/2007/1 of 17 April 2007 adopting implementing rules concerning data protection at the European Central Bank (OJ L 116, 4.5.2007, p. 64).