Director-General
Article 17
1. The Office shall be headed by a Director-General. The Director-General shall be appointed by the Commission, in accordance with the procedure specified in paragraph 2. The term of office of the Director-General shall be seven years and shall not be renewable. 2. In order to appoint a new Director-General, the Commission shall publish a call for applications in the Official Journal of the European Union . Such publication shall take place at the latest six months before the end of the term of office of the Director-General in office. After a favourable opinion has been given by the Supervisory Committee on the selection procedure applied by the Commission, the Commission shall draw up a list of suitably qualified candidates. After consultation with the European Parliament and the Council, the Commission shall appoint the Director-General. 3. The Director-General shall neither seek nor take instructions from any government or any institution, body, office or agency in the performance of his duties with regard to the opening and carrying-out of external and internal investigations or to the drafting of reports following such investigations. If the Director-General considers that a measure taken by the Commission calls his independence into question, he shall immediately inform the Supervisory Committee, and shall decide whether to bring an action against the Commission before the Court of Justice. 4. The Director-General shall report regularly to the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission and the Court of Auditors on the findings of investigations carried out by the Office, the action taken and the problems encountered, whilst respecting the confidentiality of the investigations, the legitimate rights of the persons concerned and of informants, and, where appropriate, national law applicable to judicial proceedings. 5. The Director-General shall each year determine, within the context of the annual management plan, the investigation policy priorities of the Office and shall, prior to their publication, forward them to the Supervisory Committee. The Director-General shall keep the Supervisory Committee periodically informed of the Office’s activities, the implementation of its investigative function and the action taken by way of follow-up to investigations. The Director-General shall inform the Supervisory Committee periodically: (a) of cases in which the recommendations made by the Director-General have not been followed; (b) of cases in which information has been transmitted to judicial authorities of the Member States; (c) on the duration of investigations in accordance with Article 7(8). 6. The Director-General may delegate in writing the exercise of certain of his functions under Article 5, Article 7(2), Article 11(7) and Article 12(2) to one or more members of the staff of the Office, specifying the conditions and limits governing such delegation. 7. The Director-General shall put in place an internal advisory and control procedure, including a legality check, relating, inter alia, to the respect of procedural guarantees and fundamental rights of the persons concerned and of the national law of the Member States concerned, with particular reference to Article 11(2). 8. The Director-General shall adopt guidelines on investigation procedures for the staff of the Office. Those guidelines shall be in accordance with this Regulation and shall cover, inter alia: (a) the conduct of investigations; (b) the procedural guarantees; (c) details on the internal advisory and control procedures, including the legality check; (d) data protection. Those guidelines, and any modification thereto, shall be adopted after the Supervisory Committee has been given the opportunity to submit its observations thereon and shall then be transmitted for information to the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, and published for information purposes on the Office’s website in the official languages of the institutions of the Union. 9. Before imposing any disciplinary penalty on the Director-General, the Commission shall consult the Supervisory Committee. The imposition of any disciplinary penalty on the Director-General shall be the subject of a reasoned decision, which shall be forwarded for information to the European Parliament, the Council and the Supervisory Committee. 10. Any reference to the ‘Director’ of the Office in any legal text shall be read as a reference to the Director-General.