Brussels, 13/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 12 March, MEPs in Strasbourg asked for clarification about the powers of the future European Prosecutor's Office when they adopted a report by Salvatore Iacolino (EPP, Italy) by 487 to 161 and 30 abstentions, noting that the rights of the defence need to be strengthened. The European Parliament will have to give its approval to the future Prosecutor's Office and it wants details of the role it would play in dealing with fraud in the budget of the EU, OLAF and Eurojust. MEPs say binding criteria are needed for deciding which court has the power to rule in particular cases, along with more details on the investigative resources to be provided to the Prosecutor's Office (like the power to seize objects or do phone and email-tapping).
In July 2013, the European Commission unveiled a draft report on establishing a European Prosecutor's Office for prosecuting fraud against the EU budget (which the Commission estimates totals some half a billion euros a year). The office would have a European prosecutor, four deputy prosecutors centrally, along with deputy prosecutors in each of the member states. The legislation requires unanimous approval from the Council of Ministers - either that or to be introduced using enhanced cooperation among a smaller number of countries. (SP)