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European Chief Prosecutor and 22 European Prosecutors take oath before Court of Justice of the European Union

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LUXEMBURG, 28/09/2020. - The College of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) gave today a solemn undertaking at a formal sitting before the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxemburg. The EPPO is the first independent European prosecution service, competent for investigating, prosecuting and bringing to justice offences affecting the financial interests of the European Union.

The solemn undertaking was given by the European Chief Prosecutor Laura Kӧvesi and the 22 European prosecutors (in alphabetical order): Frédéric Baab (France), Cătălin-Laurențiu Borcoman (Romania), Jaka Brezigar (Slovenia), Danilo Ceccarelli (Italy), Gatis Doniks (Latvia), Yvonne Farrugia (Malta), Teodora Georgieva (Bulgaria), Daniëlle Goudriaan (The Netherlands), José Eduardo Guerra (Portugal), Petr Klement (Czechia), Tomas Krušna (Lithuania), Tamara Laptoš (Croatia), Katerina Loizou (Cyprus), Ingrid Maschl-Clausen (Austria), Juraj Novocký (Slovakia), Andrés Ritter (Germany), Maria Concepción Sabadell Carnicero (Spain), Gabriel Seixas (Luxemburg), Kristel Siitam-Nyiri (Estonia), Harri Tiesmaa (Finland), Yves Van Den Berge (Belgium) and Dimitrios Zimianitis (Greece).

In his address prior to the solemn undertaking the President of the Court of Justice, Koen Lenaerts, said: “ The European Chief Prosecutor and the European Prosecutors, like the Members of this institution, the Court of Justice of the European Union, are ultimately servants of the same single master: justice in accordance with the rule of law.”

Laura Kӧvesi added: “The European Public Prosecutor’s Office is independent. This is a fundamental principle of rule of law: only an independent judiciary can enforce the law equally for everybody. The public concerns related to financial frauds, corruption and rule of law have grown stronger than ever. By protecting the European Union’s budget, we will play an essential role in making the European citizens’ trust in the Union stronger than ever.”

The ceremony was attended by Mireille Delmas-Marty, a French jurist and emeritus professor at Collège de France who coordinated the expert committee for the creation of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, and Matthew Caruana Galizia who has been fighting for justice since his mother, journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, was murdered in Malta in 2017. Relatives of the prosecutors and EPPO staff members were also present during the ceremony, respecting all COVID-19 restrictions.
 

Set-up of the EPPO

The European Chief Prosecutor was appointed by the Council and the European Parliament in October 2019. For the past year, she put all her efforts in the administrative set-up of the EPPO and the central office in Luxemburg, together with a small task force of experts. Nine months later, on 27 July 2020, the European Prosecutors from 22 participating EU Member States were appointed by the Council of the European Union.

The set-up of the EPPO is continuing at a rapid pace.  The main priority now is to recruit the European Delegated Prosecutors, who will conduct the investigations in their respective Member State, under the supervision of their European Prosecutors who will work from the central office in Luxemburg.

 

Court of Justice of the EU