News

The Guardia di Finanza of Genoa (Italy) have executed a preventive seizure order of over € 200 000, at the request of the EPPO, against a Ligurian company that evaded the payment of border duties by declaring a false origin of imported goods.

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office signed a working arrangement on 3 September 2021 with the European Court of Auditors (ECA). This arrangement aims to provide a structured framework for establishing and maintaining a cooperative relationship between both parties, for the purpose of protecting the EU budget.

Today, European Delegated Prosecutors in Croatia began working in new, completely renovated premises. In this way, the conditions for the operational work of European Delegated Prosecutors in the Republic of Croatia are fully ensured.

Since this morning, premises in Germany, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Hungary have been searched in the framework of an EPPO investigation into cross-border VAT fraud estimated at more than EUR 14 million.

The College of the EPPO has appointed a seventh European Delegated Prosecutor in Romania. A current overview of the number of European Delegated Prosecutors in the 22 participating EU Member States is as follows:

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office has signed on 18 June 2021 an agreement with the European Commission. It establishes the modalities of cooperation between the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and the European Commission for the purpose of protecting the financial interests of the EU.

On 19 July 2021, the European Chief Prosecutor, Laura Kövesi, visited the EPPO office in Athens. She also met the Minister of Justice, Konstantinos Tsiaras, the President of the Supreme Court, Maria Georgiou, and the General Prosecutor, Vasilios Pliotas. Her main objective was to take stock of the level of operational preparedness of the EPPO office in Greece.

Only six weeks after the European Public Prosecutor's Office started its operations, we have already processed more than a thousand reports of fraud affecting the financial interests of the European Union. We have also already seized EUR 7 million of goods. This is only the beginning. We thank all those who help us for their trust.

(Croatian version below)

This editorial was published in Welt am Sonntag on 11 July 2021. Read (in German) here.