Preparations for the European Public Prosecutor’s Office taking office, scheduled for the end of November, have entered the home stretch, according to a non-paper from the European Commission dated 6 November, a copy of which has been received by EUROPE.
At the beginning of October, the Commission had raised their voice, asking Member States to finalise the final preparations as soon as possible (see EUROPE 12578/5).
According to the document, discussions over the appointment of European Delegated Prosecutors for each Member State are “progressing”. By way of reminder, 140 has been agreed upon as the number of European Delegated Prosecutors (at least two per Member State), but discussions have stalled over their status, specifically whether they will all work full time for the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Some Member States have reached an agreement with Laura Codruța Kövesi, who heads up the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, but only a few (Slovakia, Germany and Luxembourg) have officially sent their proposals for European Delegated Prosecutors.
Furthermore, the Commission also continues to monitor legal and administrative adjustments by the Member States, which are necessary to comply with the Regulation implementing the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. On 21 October, it organised a virtual meeting with representatives of Member States participating in the European Public Prosecutor’s Office in order to discuss the state of play of national measures.
“It emerged that the level of preparedness is uneven in the Member States. In many of them, not all the necessary legislation has been completed, with some encountering severe delays”, states the document.
Regarding the transposition of the PFI Directive on the protection of the EU’s financial interests (see EUROPE 12290/20), the European Commission reported that it is continuing infringement proceedings against the three Member States – two of which are members of the European Public Prosecutor's Office – that have not yet fully transposed it.
As for the rest, the College of Prosecutors has already adopted a number of key decisions relating to the functioning of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, including the rules of procedure, internal languages, rules on the processing of personal data, and rules on public access to documents of the Prosecutor’s Office.
It is also expected to appoint, on 11 November, Ms Kövesi’s two deputies, who will be selected from among the 22 European public prosecutors. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)