On Thursday 27 January the European Public Prosecutor’s Office expressed to the European Commission its deep concern about a reform of criminal law on the statute of limitation underway in Slovenia which could have a damaging impact on the investigations of the Slovenian desk of the Public Prosecutor’s Office into cases of fraud against the European Union budget.
This reform, which is being examined by the Slovenian Parliament under an expedited procedure, would drastically reduce the time taken to investigate cases brought to the attention of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. And even, according to the European authority, “many ongoing cases would need to be closed immediately and definitively”.
“This would represent a de facto amnesty for many cases of fraud against the EU budget in Slovenia”, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement. It notes “with utmost concern that such an amendment would negatively affect investigations and prosecutions initiated in other Member States” requiring the support of the Slovenian authorities.
It condemned “a clear and persisting intention to hamper the effectiveness of criminal prosecution of cases of fraud in Slovenia, including tax fraud, tax evasion and corruption”.
The statement came the same day of Slovenian Prosecutor General Drago Šketa’s visit to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office in Luxembourg.
By the end of 2021, the Slovenian government had put an end to a six-month stalemate in the procedure for appointing Slovenian Delegated Prosecutors to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (see EUROPE 12836/25). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)