The EU Council formally adopted, on Monday 14 October, without discussion, at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council, the decision appointing Romanian Laura Codruţa Kövesi to head the European Public Prosecutor's Office (see EUROPE 12335/9) for a non-renewable seven-year term.
It was just a formality, after the EU Council's decision in September to align itself with the European Parliament's choice by supporting Ms Kövesi in place of the French candidate Jean-François Bohnert (see EUROPE 12331/5).
On the European Parliament's side, the Conference of Presidents (CoP) is expected to approve this appointment on Wednesday 16 October and decide to put it to a vote at the next plenary session, according to our information.
On the same day, in the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE), the Director General of the European Commission's Department of Justice, Tiina Astola, detailed the other preparations underway to ensure that the European Public Prosecutor's Office will be operational in 2020.
Member States that have not yet submitted their three candidates for European Prosecutors have been asked to do so as soon as possible, she said.
The Commission is also closely monitoring the transposition of the ‘PIF’ Directive on the protection of the EU's financial interests, which is a prerequisite for the operational launch of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (see EUROPE 12290/20).
According to our information, 12 Member States have fully transposed the Directive, ten have partially transposed it, while four Member States have not notified any national measures to the Commission. In September, the Commission sent letters of formal notice to Member States that had not notified it of full transposition. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)