European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO)

What is the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO)?

The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) is an independent and decentralized prosecuting agency of the European Union. It is empowered to investigate and criminally prosecute crimes affecting the EU's financial interests. This includes fraud involving EU funds, corruption, money laundering and large-scale cross-border VAT fraud.

The European Public Prosecutor's Office was created to protect the EU's financial interests. Before the creation of the EPPO, the EU already had three bodies in charge of anti-fraud and policing cases. These are OLAF, Eurojust and Europol. Those organisations cannot conduct criminal investigations or prosecute suspects. The European Public Prosecutor's Office must investigate and prosecute on behalf of the participating member states.

What crimes is the European Public Prosecutor's Office investigating?

The EPPO is specifically charged with fighting crimes affecting the EU's financial interests, such as:

• Cross-border VAT fraud with total damages of at least €10 million
• EU subsidy fraud and other EU funding
• Corruption involving EU funds
• Misappropriation of European funds by governments or companies
• Money laundering and organised crime related to the above facts

As an independent body, the European Public Prosecutor's Office operates as a single integrated body in all 22 participating EU countries. European delegated prosecutors operate in each member state, independently bringing cases before national courts.

The creation of the European Public Prosecutor's Office gives the EU a powerful tool to investigate large-scale financial crime. Through cooperation between national and European bodies, potential fraud involving EU funds is detected at European level. The EPPO has the ability to conduct cross-border investigations and take direct criminal action in participating EU member states.

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