Mates said at an EP hearing that he would drop his candidacy if he did not get a positive opinion from the MEPs. The EP's opinion is advisory but the Council, which has the final say in the appointment of ECA members, until then always decided in line with the EP's recommendation.
The seven MEPs asked whether the Council, in appointing Mates, had taken into account that he had stated, in writing and verbally, that he would withdraw his ECA candidacy if given a negative EP opinion.
They asked why the Council appointed him if 396 MEPs voted against it, 213 were for and 45 abstained, and what it thought of the efficiency and credibility of an ECA member who broke the promise he had made to a democratic EP.
Two MEPs have also submitted two amendments to the EU's 2014 budget, which have been approved by the Committee on Budgets and will go to the vote at a plenary session on Wednesday, asking the suspension of 1,810,250 euros for Mates's office until he gave a satisfactory answer to why he had misinformed the EP.
The ECA was established to audit the EU's finances. The Court is composed of one member from each EU member state.
Neven Mates worked abroad for many years, mostly at the International Monetary Fund. After an early retirement in 2009, he returned to Croatia and took up an advisory post at the Croatian National Bank. He left that job after stepping in as an official of the European Court of Auditors.