Brussels, 11/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - In a press release dated Tuesday 11 February, Commissioner for Justice and Fundamental Rights Viviane Reding welcomed the vote in the committee on legal affairs of the European Parliament (JURI) backing her proposal to establish a European Public Prosecutor's Office, which would be competent to deal with cases of fraud affecting the EU budget.
By 19 votes to 4, with no abstentions, the MEPs supported the main points put forward by the Commission. They feel that the European Public Prosecutor's Office should have a decentralised structure, integrated into the national judicial systems. Delegated European Prosecutors will carry out the investigations and prosecutions in the respective member states, using national staff and applying national law. Their actions will be coordinated by the European Public Prosecutor. The proposal also guarantees “stronger protection” of procedural rights of individuals concerned by European Public Prosecutor's Office investigations, for example, the right to interpretation and translation, the right to information and access to case materials or the right of access to a lawyer in the case of detention.
In order to become law, the proposal needs to be unanimously adopted by the Council. This condition is currently compromised, as several national parliaments have already come out against the Public Prosecutor's Office. 14 of them have sent a reasoned opinion (or “yellow card” as per the Treaty of Lisbon) to this effect. The dossier could still move forward by means of “enhanced cooperation”, as the required number of member states, nine, has been achieved, the Commission points out. The United Kingdom and Ireland have already announced that they will opt-out. (SP/transl.fl)