The European Public Prosecutor’s Office starts operating

EU's new anti-fraud body, the European Public Prosecutors Office starts on 1st June, with a delay of a few months.

Corina Cristea, 31.05.2021, 13:50

Headed by the former chief
of the Romanian National Anticorruption Directorate Laura Codruţa Kövesi, the European Public Prosecutor’s
Office starts operating on 1st June. This new body aimed at fighting
fraud withing the bloc is based in Luxembourg and will carry out its
investigations and prosecutions fully independently from the Commission and the
other EU institutions and bodies, as well as from member states, 22 of which are
taking part in this form of consolidated cooperation.

This is the first supranational prosecutor’s office
investigating and prosecuting fraud related to expenditure and incomes, VAT (when
it involves two or more member states and causes losses of at least 10 million
euros), money laundering of funds resulting from defrauding the EU budget,
active and passive corruption and embezzlement that affects the EU’s financial
interests. This new body is also able to investigate and prosecute
participation in a criminal organisation whose activities result in offences
against the EU budget, or any other illegal activity that is inextricably linked
to an offence against the EU budget.

The head of this new body, who says there are no clean
countries, said in an interview to the Spanish news agency EFE that she is
very proud to play the lead role in the historic moment represented by the inauguration
of this new European institution and warned of the high risk of offences linked
to the European fund for post-pandemic recovery. Set up in order to investigate
offences that affect the EU budget, the new European Public Prosecutor’s Office
is an instrument aimed at protecting the bloc’s economic interests, which is
why it should be strong, effective and efficient, Kövesi also said. She estimated
corruption, misappropriation of funds and fraud in its many forms cause annual
losses to the EU budget of some 500 million euros. This financial haemorrhaging
may worsen in the context of the pandemic, with the community bloc establishing,
through loans accessed by the European Commission, recovery funds out of which
member states can access grants and loans based on national recovery and resilience
plans approved by the Commission.

The new body has at its disposal an annual budget of
45 million euros to identify and investigate acts of corruption. Kövesi said
the office can employ 140 prosecutors and added that 50 financial analysts and
experts are also needed given the challenge of conducting investigations in 22
member states, with 22 different criminal codes and procedures. Five member
states, namely Poland, Denmark, Hungary, Sweden and Ireland are not taking part
in the new European Public Prosecutor’s Office as a result of a political decision,
while Finland and Slovenia are yet to appoint their prosecutors. (CM)