Brussels, 17/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - Under discussion for more than 15 years and laid down in the Treaty of Lisbon, the famous “European Public Prosecutor's Office” took shape on Wednesday 17 July, when the Commission proposed, via a regulation, the creation of this supra-national entity that will have competence in cases of European budget fraud. At this stage, it is planned that it will deal only with these matters.
The aim is to prevent nearly €500 million from disappearing every year, according to the various figures provided by the member states, to fight the fraudulent use of European funds and even to stop criminal groups from taking part in calls for tenders. This decentralised structure, which will be integrated in the national systems, will be made up of a European Public Prosecutor General, to be elected by the Council and the Parliament and assisted by four deputies; one deputy Public Prosecutor will also be appointed for each member state. It will be these deputy Public Prosecutors who will carry out investigations in their own country on behalf of the European Public Prosecutor, in their own language and under the laws applicable in that country.
The plans, which have long been called for by the European Parliament (EP), have already been rejected by the United Kingdom and Conservatives of the ECR group, who see it as a dangerous “Europeanisation” of national legal systems. Denmark will not be taking part and Ireland has yet to announce its decision. Although the unanimity required in order to create the office is not possible, there is still the option of enhanced cooperation (support from at least nine member states). And this number has already been reached, according to Commissioner Algirdas Semeta. In March of this year, France and Germany made a joint contribution in support of the Public Prosecutor's Office.
Essentially, the office will make sure that all cases of suspected fraud carried out to the detriment of the EU budget (the current success rate in investigations of this kind is just 42.3% on average, according to the Commission) are followed up and properly seen through to the end. This European Public Prosecutor's Office alone will be competent to seek, pursue and prosecute those responsible for infringements and will have cross-border investigative powers in all member states through its deputy Public Prosecutors (searching premises, goods and IT systems, seizing items, intercepting telephone conversations and freezing financial transactions). The deputy Public Prosecutors will be able to continue with their national public prosecution duties, but whenever they act on behalf of the European office, they will be completely independent from the national authorities. A “college” of 10 members, to be made up of the European public prosecutor, the deputies and the national public prosecutors, will ensure consistency between the EU and the national level, “notably by agreeing on general rules on the allocation of cases”. The regulation will also lay down reinforced procedural rights of suspects and any decision by the European Public Prosecutor's Office can lead to appeals before the national judges. In parallel to this European Public Prosecutor's Office, to be associated with Eurojust, which the Commission is also proposing to reinforce in a communication, the role of OLAF has also changed. The Commission has proposed improving the governance of the anti-fraud office and reinforcing the procedural requirements for investigations. In the meantime, OLAF will take responsibility only for administrative investigations in fields which do not come under the competence of the European Public Prosecutor's Office and will no longer carry out administrative investigations in cases of fraudulent action or other irregularities affecting the financial interests of the EU. (SP/transl.fl)