The European Commission is currently working on a proposed revision of regulation (883/2013) governing the competences of the European anti-fraud office (OLAF), according to a note of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU dated 23 February.
The Commission had raised this as a possibility in October of last year, when it published its evaluation report on the legal framework governing the investigations carried out by OLAF (see EUROPE 11875). In this report, it referred to future changes that could be necessary in order to facilitate its coexistence with the European Public Prosecutor's Office, which will tackle fraud against European funds and value-added tax (VAT) in its cross-border dimensions (see EUROPE 11870).
According to this document, the Council is currently pushing for a targeted revision, calling on the Commission to focus mainly on matters that are necessary to allow OLAF to work seamlessly with the Public Prosecutor's Office, “without, however, extending the competencies and powers that are currently conferred on OLAF”.
However, in its roadmap of November 2017, the Commission identified two other aims alongside this one: reinforcing the effectiveness of OLAF's investigative functions, including a clarification of its mandate and powers in the field of VAT, as well as clarifying and simplifying the regulation.
“It was agreed that the scope of the upcoming proposal could be limited as suggested in order to ensure the speedy adoption of the targeted revision”, the Presidency's document reads. The objective is for the modified regulation to enter into force before the Public Prosecutor's Office starts work in 2020. According to the indicative timetable associated with the roadmap, the Commission intends to present its proposal in March.
More specifically, the Council has suggested that emphasis be laid on rules to ensure complementarity and a clear division of competences between the two bodies. Moreover, it calls for provisions governing cooperation with the six member states not currently participating in the Public Prosecutor's Office to be included, whilst stressing that such provisions should not have any negative consequences for these states.
In parallel, there is also progress with the implementation of the Public Prosecutor's Office. According to our information, the Commission is planning to arrange an initial meeting in March of the expert group tasked with setting it in place. The institution is also expected to publish the advertisement for the post of European Public Prosecutor, who will take up his or her duties in early 2019 at the latest, in the Official Journal of the EU in the very near future. The recruitment procedure is expected to start at the end of this year.
Discussions on these matters will continue at the Justice Council of 9 March. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)