The College of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) appointed today European Prosecutor Petr Klement as Deputy European Chief Prosecutor, to replace Danilo Ceccarelli at the end of his three-year term. He will take on his new role on 29 July 2023.
He will join Andrés Ritter, who was appointed Deputy European Chief Prosecutor in November 2020 for a renewable mandate of three years.
The European Chief Prosecutor can assign and delegate each of her two Deputies specific tasks and responsibilities, and they can replace her in her absence.
Prior to becoming European Prosecutor, Petr Klement worked as a prosecutor in the Department of Serious Economic and Financial Crime at the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) of the Czech Republic, where he specialised in PIF crimes, cybercrime and combating the financing of terrorism. He was also a member of the Supervisory Committee of OLAF from January 2017 to August 2020.
He joined the Czech prosecution service in 2000, and from 2004 worked as a district prosecutor specialised in economic crime. Between 2006 and 2014 he worked at the International Department of the PGO, and later headed the Section of Outer Relations. During that time, he was seconded to Eurojust (2007), to North Kosovo within the EU Rule of Law Mission, EULEX (2010–2012) and to the IPA (Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance) 2010 Project in Tirana, Albania (2013–2014).
Klement has run the National Network of Cybercrime Prosecutors and was also the General Coordinator of the Criminal Justice Project at the European Judicial Training Network.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) is the independent public prosecution office of the European Union. It is responsible for investigating, prosecuting and bringing to judgment crimes against the financial interests of the EU.