Maria Georgieva[1]
This article gives a general overview of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (‘the EPPO’).
Because of the will of the Member States to preserve their sovereignty in the sensitive field of criminal law as much as possible, it comes as no surprise that the issue took years of political and academic debate.
The material scope of competence of the EPPO is limited to criminal offences affecting the financial interests of the Union in accordance with Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1939[2] . The tasks of the EPPO are to investigate, prosecute and bring to judgment the perpetrators of offences against the Union’s financial interests under Directive (EU) 2017/1371 of the European Parliament and of the Council[3] and offences which are inextricably linked to them. Any extension of this competence to include serious crimes having a cross-border dimension requires a unanimous decision of the European Council.
The setting up of the EPPO by only some Member States raises doubts whether the objectives of the Regulation can be sufficiently achieved. The non-participating Member States may join at any time after the adoption of the Regulation. On 7 August 2018, the Commission confirmed Malta as the 22nd EU-Member State to join the EPPO.
The supranational character of the new body predetermines the complex internal hierarchy of the EPPO. Other concerns arise with regard to the intersection of EU law and national law. There are high expectations towards Member States in relation to the need of the EPPO to function in a smooth and efficient way.
The article is an attempt to present briefly the role, competences, structure and other aspects related to a proper operation of the EPPO such as the judicial review of the acts of the EPPO, relations of the EPPO with its partners, etc.
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Цялата статия на български език е достъпна на следния линк:
Европейската прокуратура – към по-ефективна защита на финансовите интереси на ЕС
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[1] Legal expert at the Ministry of Justice, Bulgaria.
[2] Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 of 12 October 2017 implementing enhanced cooperation on the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (‘the EPPO’).
[3] Directive (EU) 2017/1371 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2017 on the fight against fraud to the Union’s financial interests by means of criminal law.