Article 68 Appointment of the Chair of the Authority

The Chair of the Authority shall be selected on the basis of merit, skills, knowledge, integrity, recognised standing and experience in the area of AML/CFT and other relevant qualifications, following an open selection procedure which shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The European Parliament, the Council and the General Board shall be kept duly informed at every stage of that procedure in a timely manner.

The Commission shall prepare a shortlist of at least two qualified candidates for the position of the Chair of the Authority. The European Parliament and the General Board may conduct hearings of the candidates on that shortlist. The General Board may issue a public opinion on the results of its hearings, or address its opinion to the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission.

The Commission shall submit a proposal for the appointment of the Chair of the Authority to the European Parliament.

Following the European Parliament’s approval of that proposal, the Council shall adopt an implementing decision to appoint the Chair of the Authority. The Council shall act by qualified majority.

By way of derogation from the second subparagraph, for the appointment of the first Chair of the Authority following the entry into force of this Regulation, the Commission shall make a proposal for the appointment of the Chair without the involvement of the General Board.

The Chair of the Authority shall act independently and objectively in the interest of the Union as a whole and shall neither seek nor take instructions from the Union institutions, bodies, offices or agencies nor from any government or from any other public or private body. The Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies, the governments of the Member States and all other public or private bodies shall respect that independence.

The term of office of the Chair of the Authority shall be four years. In the course of the 12 months preceding the end of the Chair’s four-year term of office, the General Board in both compositions or a smaller committee selected among General Board members including a Commission representative shall carry out an assessment of the Chair. The assessment shall take into account an evaluation of the Chair’s performance and the Authority’s future tasks and challenges. Based on the assessment, the Commission may propose to the European Parliament to extend the Chair’s term of office. Such an extension may be granted only once. Following the European Parliament's approval of the Commission’s proposal, the Council shall adopt an implementing decision to extend the term of office of the Chair of the Authority. The Council shall act by qualified majority.

If the Chair of the Authority no longer fulfils the conditions required for the performance of his or her duties or has been guilty of serious misconduct, the Council may, acting on its own initiative, or following a proposal by the European Parliament or the General Board in either composition, adopt an implementing decision to remove the Chair of the Authority from office. The Council shall act by qualified majority.

If the Chair of the Authority resigns or is unable to attend to his or her duties for any other reason, the functions of the Chair shall be performed by the Vice-Chair.