EU Ombudsman Receives Complaints over EDPS Selection Process
The European Ombudsman has received two complaints regarding the ongoing selection of the next European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS). The first complaint arrived before the summer and the second more recently; neither has prompted a formal inquiry yet as the European Commission has not responded and the Ombudsman is still assessing the issues raised. The EDPS oversees EU institutions’ compliance with data protection rules and issues opinions on legislative proposals but does not impose fines.
The selection process is stalled after the European Parliament and the Council backed different candidates from a Commission short list presented in January. The current EDPS, Wojciech Wiewiórowski, whose mandate expired in December 2024, continues in office pending a successor, consistent with the Commission’s position that there is no statutory deadline and the incumbent remains until a new appointment is made.
Parliament’s LIBE Committee endorsed Bruno Gencarelli, a long‑time Commission official with 12 years in managerial roles on data protection, including as head of the International Affairs and Data Flows Unit. Member states support Wiewiórowski for a further mandate. The split has persisted despite multiple interinstitutional meetings aimed at reaching a compromise.
Gencarelli’s candidacy has triggered independence concerns raised by the Centre for AI & Digital Humanism and a group of privacy academics, who argued that appointing a recent senior Commission official could undermine the EDPS’s complete independence and good administration principles. Historically, the EDPS has been drawn from national supervisory authorities rather than former Commission staff, as in the cases of Wiewiórowski, Peter Hustinx, and Giovanni Buttarelli.
