EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility

EU chief prosecutor Laura Kovesi was responsible for jailing dozens of high-
ranking officials in Romania as chief anti-corruption prosecutor between 2013 and
2018, before being ousted by the then-ruling party (Photo: European
Commission)
By ESZTER ZALAN

BRUSSELS, 2. JUN, 07:20

After two decades of legal and political battles, the EU public prosecutor's office
(EPPO), responsible for uncovering and prosecuting fraud against the EU budget,
started its operations on Tuesday (1 June).
The Luxembourg-based, independent office is headed by former Romanian anti-
corruption chief, Laura Kövesi, who described the start of operations a "historic
moment".
EU chief prosecutor Laura Kövesi hopes those countries that have not yet joined
EPPO - Hungary, Poland, Ireland, Denmark and Sweden - will decide to do so once
they see how the office works (Photo: European Commission)
By ESZTER ZALAN

BRUSSELS, 4. JUN, 07:25

Laura Kövesi knows a lot about fighting fraud and corruption in hostile conditions.

She served as Romania's chief prosecutor at the anti-corruption directorate from

2013 until she was forced out from her office in 2018 by the then justice minister.

While in office, she brought ex-prime ministers, former ministers, MPs, and
mayors to justice.
The 48-year-old Kövesi was also the first woman and the youngest prosecutor
general in Romania's history.

She was so effective, her country's then political masters even lobbied against her
during the selection process to become the EU's first chief prosecutor.

On Tuesday (1 June), her office, the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO)
launched its operations in Luxembourg.

EPPO's task is to better protect the EU's financial interests by fighting cross-
border VAT fraud, money laundering, and corruption.

"For the first time, the offenses against the financial interest of the EU will be
investigated in an integrated strategic manner by a prosecutorial body with
supranational jurisdiction," Kövesi told a group of journalists on Thursday (3
June).

The central office has 22 European prosecutors who will oversee cases from
member states and approve the main decisions in an investigation, such as
indictments.

EPPO also has a network of 140 European delegated prosecutors sitting in

member states' capitals, but working for the Luxembourg office under their own
criminal code.
"There are no clean countries. So having now EPPO, we will have the same
approach for all European delegated prosecutors, to identify and make
investigation in these cases will be a priority," she said.

Kövesi added there were huge discrepancies between member states: some
countries have five or six cases per year, others hundreds.

Five member states decided not to join the office, including two countries which
are under EU scrutiny for breaching rule of law, Hungary and Poland.

If there is any kind of link to a crime from a non-participating member state, the
EPPO can get involved. Otherwise, as is the case now, the EU's anti-fraud agency,
Olaf, can conduct an administrative investigation in those countries.

"Of course, the efficiency and the protection of the EU money would be higher if
we would have all the EU member states in the EPPO. But this is their decision. I
hope our activity will convince them to join," Kövesi said.

Staff needed
Kövesi is keenly aware of the responsibility she and her team have in building an
effective and trusted institution from scratch. Her office will not solve corruption
in all the member states, she warns, but will better protect EU money.

With the EPPO, there will be a much higher level of integration, coordination and
information sharing than before, she said.
"What is missing is the fact that we need more staff. We need at least 50 more
colleagues here in Luxembourg to work as case analysts and financial
investigators," Kövesi said.

She said that, for 2021, her office received a budget €7m more than previously
foreseen, although less than what the EPPO originally asked for. It did not get an
approval to hire more staff.

Kövesi said she will propose to give back part of the €7m which EPPO wanted to
use for hiring staff, rather than use it for other purposes.

She hopes once the office was operational it could provide concrete statistics on
the workload that will trigger the approval by the commission.

"Because if we don't get the approval to hire more staff, we have this risk that our
activity can be blocked because we don't have enough resources," she said.

"If the criminals have a Mercedes, and you have to follow them with a bicycle, it's
obvious that they will have the advantage," Kövesi said.

Courts
The first cases registered with EPPO were from Germany and Italy. Kövesi said she
could not say when her office will have the first result, as even if indictments are
made this year, courts can take one or two years to rule.

EPPO cases will have to be decided by national courts. The office can choose
which country is in the best position to investigate a cross-border case, and it will
also be tried there.
"Without an independent judiciary you cannot work efficiently, you cannot touch
the high corruption. And you cannot investigate the people that are in the key
positions to decide, especially on EU funds," she said.

On the new rule linking EU funds to the respect for the rule of law, Kövesi said
that if during her office's work "there is an attempt to influence or damage and
reduce the independence of the judiciary", they will single out this to the
commission.

With regards to Slovenia, where prime minister Janez Janša has recently caused
an outcry for not approving the appointment of the two delegated prosecutors to
EPPO, Kövesi said a proposal for a candidate should be sent as soon as possible.

The move "undermines very seriously not only the EPPO but also the trust in the
effective functioning of the management and control system of the EU funds in
Slovenia," she said.

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