The European Public Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday launched a new tool in the fight against fraud in the European Union, after several ups and downs. Although it is scheduled to begin operations in November 2020, Kovid is still there, and above all, the states are lagging behind in the appointment of the agency’s national delegated prosecutors. Cooperation increased to 22 member countries. People in Slovenia and Finland are still missing. The five member states have decided not to participate in the plans of Hungary, Poland, Ireland, Sweden and Denmark, which limit the strike force of the future European prosecutor.

The main task of this new Judicial Authority is to find, prosecute and prosecute those who commit criminal offenses that are detrimental to the economic interests of the Union. In his view, fraud involving the European budget, VAT fraud, money laundering and corruption.

Invisible place

His first playground found everything. Europe is set to disburse 50 750 billion from the European Recovery Fund, It will increase your appetite According to Laura Covezi, the first European Chief Prosecutor to be elected in 2019 by member states and parliament. According to European institutions, international fraud represents at least 50 billion euros a year. In their crusade to avoid wasting a single euro on the recovery plan, the governments of northern Europe last July demanded an economic extension during the tough negotiations over the approval of the plan, so that the new European public prosecutor has the means to achieve it.

“This new authority will eliminate the blindness of justice in Europe. Today, only national prosecutors have the right to investigate cross-border cases, ”explains Vincent Coron, a European legal researcher at the VIP Laboratory in Paris-Sacla. But they do not always do that. As the case shows, the Czech Prime Minister Andrzej Babis is suspected of cheating public agricultural policy, either due to lack of time or bad will. The case has not been heard in the Czech Republic, despite an investigation by the local governing body, Olaf, and an investigation by local police.

Federal justice system

“The novelty with this independent prosecutor is that he is able to investigate and prosecute member states based on a network of 22 specially created National Delegate Prosecutors. The examining magistrate may be arrested by order of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. A very federal system of European justice is in place, ”explains Vincent Coron. Europol will assist the European Public Prosecutor’s Office in its procedures, which will facilitate the transfer of information between the other bodies of the Union, the OLAF, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), the police force collaborating with the national forces, and the Eurojust.

Symbolic Choice

The election of the first European prosecutor will not be more symbolic. Between 2013 and 2018, Laura Covezi was the patron of the Romanian Anti-Corruption Prosecution. Her zeal and courage in dealing with financial fraud in her country earned her many enemies, especially in July 2018 after five years of hard work in the Social Democratic Party that was in power at the time of her ouster. His Hunting list, impressive It includes thousands of indictments of elected officials and senior officials, as well as numerous prison sentences, including two prime ministers, Adrian Nastase and Victor Ponda.