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1. PROPOSAL FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DECISION
PA_NonLeg
on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office for the financial year 2022
SUGGESTIONS
(2023/2139(DEC))
The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs calls on the Committee on Budgetary Control, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions into its motion for a resolution:
– having regard to the final annual accounts of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office for the financial year 2022,
1. Notes that the Court of Auditors (the ‘Court’) declared the transactions underlying the annual accounts of the European Public Prosecutor Office (EPPO) for the financial year 2022 to be legal and regular in all material respects and that its financial position at 31 December 2022 is fairly presented;
– having regard to the Court of Auditors’ annual report on EU agencies for the financial year 2022, together with the agencies’ replies,
2. Welcomes that most of the observations from the Court from last year are closed, and that EPPO managed to decrease the proportion of late payments from 21 % in 2021 to 5 % in 2022;
– having regard to the statement of assurance as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions provided by the Court of Auditors for the financial year 2022, pursuant to Article 287 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
3. Notes the significant growth of the EPPO’s workload; acknowledges with satisfaction that the EPPO received 3 318 reports and 58% out of them were sent by private parties which also shows that EPPO is widely know judicial body; appreciates that EPPO opened 865 investigations in 2022 with the damage estimated at EUR 9.9 billion; notes that the EPPO’s caseload was significantly underestimated;
– having regard to the Council’s recommendation of February 2024 on discharge to be given to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2022 (00000/2024 – C90000/2024),
4. Is concerned about the high-risk environment in physical an information security in which EPPO operates and about the current level of recourses; stresses the importance to adapt human and financial resources to the growing workload and to reflect them accordingly in the future budget planning;
– having regard to Article 319 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
5. Recalls that EPPO is an independent body of the EU, established through the concept of enhanced cooperation in criminal matters responsible for investigating, prosecuting and bringing to judgment crimes against the financial interests of the Union; notes that 22 different EU Member States participate in EPPO whereas Hungary, Poland and Sweden have decided not to join the EPPO and Denmark and Ireland have an opt-out from the area of freedom, security and justice;
– having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union, amending Regulations (EU) No 1296/2013, (EU) No 1301/2013, (EU) No 1303/2013, (EU) No 1304/2013, (EU) No 1309/2013, (EU) No 1316/2013, (EU) No 223/2014, (EU) No 283/2014, and Decision No 541/2014/EU and repealing Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012, and in particular Article 70 thereof,
6. Highlights that effective cooperation with relevant stakeholders including non-participating states authorities is pivotal; welcomes finalisation of the negotiations on a working arrangement at the technical level with the Danish and Polish authorities; acknowledges differences in legal regimes and difficulties arising in negotiations of working arrangement in Ireland; welcomes the commitment by the Irish authorities to review their working arrangement with the EPPO;
– having regard to Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 of 12 October 2017 implementing enhanced cooperation on the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (‘the EPPO’), and in particular Article 94 thereof,
7. Notes that the appointment of European delegated prosecutors is a shared responsibility of EPPO and member states; stresses that the appointment procedure must always be in compliance with Article 17 of the Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 and principle of national procedural autonomy; encourages Member States to contribute to the full independence of EPPO in their exercise of the appointment procedure; notes that 114 European Delegated Prosecutors were in employment at the end of 2022; welcomes that during the reporting period, 15 European Delegated Prosecutors were appointed and none were dismissed by the EPPO College;
– having regard to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/715 of 18 December 2018 on the framework financial regulation for the bodies set up under the TFEU and Euratom Treaty and referred to in Article 70 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and in particular Article 105 thereof,
8. Welcomes the continuous cooperation with authorities of participating and non-participating Member States and third countries, European Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies notably Eurojust, Europol and OLAF, welcomes that EPPO engaged in negotiations for working arrangements with the European Parliament and the Executive Agencies, as well as with the European External Action Service;
– having regard to Rule 100 of and Annex V to its Rules of Procedure,
– having regard to the opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs,
– having regard the opinion of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs,
– having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A90000/2024),
1. Grants the Administrative Director of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office discharge in respect of the implementation of the Office’s budget for the financial year 2022 / Postpones its decision on granting the Administrative Director of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office discharge in respect of the implementation of the Office’s budget for the financial year 2022;
2. Sets out its observations in the resolution below;
3. Instructs its President to forward this decision, and the resolution forming an integral part of it, to the Administrative Director of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, the European Council, the Council, the Commission and the Court of Auditors, and to arrange for their publication in the Official Journal of the European Union (L series).
2. PROPOSAL FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DECISION
on the closure of the accounts of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office for the financial year 2022
(2023/2139(DEC))
– having regard to the final annual accounts of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office for the financial year 2022,
– having regard to the Court of Auditors’ annual report on EU agencies for the financial year 2022, together with the agencies’ replies,
– having regard to the statement of assurance as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions provided by the Court of Auditors for the financial year 2022, pursuant to Article 287 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
– having regard to the Council’s recommendation of ... on discharge to be given to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2022 (00000/2024 – C90000/2024),
– having regard to Article 319 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
– having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union, amending Regulations (EU) No 1296/2013, (EU) No 1301/2013, (EU) No 1303/2013, (EU) No 1304/2013, (EU) No 1309/2013, (EU) No 1316/2013, (EU) No 223/2014, (EU) No 283/2014, and Decision No 541/2014/EU and repealing Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012, and in particular Article 70 thereof,
– having regard to Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 of 12 October 2017 implementing enhanced cooperation on the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (‘the EPPO’), and in particular Article 94 thereof,
– having regard to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/715 of 18 December 2018 on the framework financial regulation for the bodies set up under the TFEU and Euratom Treaty and referred to in Article 70 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and in particular Article 105 thereof,
– having regard to Rule 100 of and Annex V to its Rules of Procedure,
– having regard to the opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs,
– having regard to the opinion of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs,
– having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A90000/2024),
1. Approves the closure of the accounts of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office for the financial year 2022 / Postpones the closure of the accounts of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office for the financial year 2022;
2. Instructs its President to forward this decision to the Administrative Director of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, the European Council, the Council, the Commission and the Court of Auditors, and to arrange for its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union (L series).
3. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION
with observations forming an integral part of the decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office for the financial year 2022
(2023/2139(DEC))
– having regard to its decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office for the financial year 2022,
– having regard to Rule 100 of and Annex V to its Rules of Procedure,
– having regard to the opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs,
– having regard to the opinion of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs,
– having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A90000/2024),
A. Whereas the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) is the independent public prosecution office of the Union and is responsible for investigating and prosecuting crimes against the financial interests of the Union and bringing to judgment the perpetrators of, and accomplices to, criminal offences provided for in Directive (EU) 2017/1371 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2017 on the fight against fraud to the Union's financial interests by means of criminal law and indicated by Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 of 12 October 2017, implementing enhanced cooperation on the establishment of the Office;
B. Whereas the competence of the EPPO encompasses several types of fraud, and includes amongst them VAT fraud with damages above EUR 10 million, money laundering, corruption and others in which regard the EPPO exercises the functions of prosecutor in the competent courts of the participating Member States, until the case has been finally disposed;
C. Whereas the EPPO is one of the component of the European Union Anti-Fraud Architecture and, as such, its actions are coordinated with and complementary to those of the other components of said architecture, to achieve a final result which is bigger than the sum of its parts;
D. Whereas the EPPO intervenes in a scenario where only national authorities could investigate and prosecute these crimes, but their prerogatives stopped at the borders of their country, and other organisations like Eurojust, OLAF and Europol had not the necessary powers to carry out the relevant criminal investigations and prosecutions;
E. Whereas the procedural acts of the EPPO are subject to judicial review by the national courts and the European Court of Justice – by way of preliminary rulings or judicial reviews of those acts – has residual powers to ensure a consistent application of EU law;
F. Whereas the EPPO is composed of a central level, with its headquarters in Luxembourg, consisting of the European Chief Prosecutor, 22 European Prosecutors (one per participating EU country) and the Administrative Director, and of a decentralised (national) level consisting of the European Delegated Prosecutors (EDPs) in the 22 participating EU Member States;
G. Whereas at the central level the European Chief Prosecutor and the 22 European Prosecutors compose the College of the EPPO and supervises the investigations and prosecutions carried out by the EDPs at the national level, who operate with complete independence from their national authorities;
H. Whereas, under Article 93 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 the EPPO Administrative Director, acting as the authorising officer of the Office, shall implement its budget under its own responsibility and within the limits authorised in the budget and shall send each year to the budgetary authority all information relevant to the findings of any evaluation procedures;
I. Whereas, in accordance with Article 50(2) of the EPPO's Financial Rules, the Accounting Officer of the Commission shall also act as Accounting Officer of the EPPO and is responsible for the preparation of the annual accounts, which are consolidated with those of the Union;
J. Whereas, under the current framework, the final annual accounts are scrutinised by the Court and it is with the Council to recommend and to the European Parliament to decide whether to grant discharge to the Administrative Director of the Office in respect of the implementation of the budget for a given financial year;
K. Whereas the Office started its operational activities on the 1st of June 2021 and it operates autonomously in the implementation of its budget only since 24 June 2021, and that this short timeframe allows a limited comparative analysis and trend identification;
L. Whereas the rules governing the management of the EPPO resources and related expenditure need to be adjusted to the peculiarities of prosecution and investigative actions and the relevant provisions of the Financial Regulation are being discussed within the recast of that regulation and, in a wider context, between the EPPO and the Commission;
1. Welcomes the European Court of Auditors’ positive opinion on the reliability of the EPPO’s accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022 and on the legality and regularity of the underlying revenue and payments;
Budgetary and financial management
2. Notes that the overall final budget allocated to the EPPO for 2022 was EUR 51.2 million, reduced from the initial endowment amounting to EUR 57.1 million, and sensibly increased from the EUR 35.4 million allocated in 2021; remarks that the returned amount of EUR 5.9 million (representing 10% of the initial budget for 2022) is an improvement compared to 2021, when EUR 9.5 million was returned to the Union’s budget (representing 21% of initial budget for 2021); observes that such amount was gradually returned in 2022 because in part it was overestimated in respect of the effective needs (for linguistic service it was 65% higher), in part it was impossible to use it for the reimbursement of the participating Member States’ exceptionally costly investigations, for example Article 91(6) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 (prevented by the Financial Regulation until a derogation was granted in 2023) and, finally, because of the delayed launch of selection and recruitment of new members of staff (which should have been planned in 2021 but became possible only later, when the budget 2022 was adopted);
3. Notes that it is only possible to compare the budgetary performance of the EPPO for the period following its financial autonomy, which began in June 2021; welcomes the satisfactory level of budget implementation of 98.1% of commitment appropriations (against 97.4% in 2021) and of 76.6% of payment appropriations (compared to 78.2% in 2021); appreciates that the overall execution rate for payments progressed in 2022 with 76.6% of paid appropriations completed in the final budget, compared to 71% in 2021; observes that the average payment time increased to 23.8 days in 2022 compared to 21.0 days in 2021 and understands that this trend is linked to the substantial increase in payment requests processed in the year (2 316 payment requests compared to 657 in 2021 represents an increase of 252%); encourages the EPPO, once again, to further implement the electronic invoicing module (e-invoicing) which only started in 2023, to reduce administrative burdens, time-to-payment and the overall processing costs;
4. Observes that, following the achievement of its financial autonomy, in June 2021, the EPPO has prioritised the operational expenditure related to investigation, prosecution and security measures, limiting non-operational expenditure to essential compliance requirements and basic level support services;
5. Remarks the upward trend in a number of operational expenditure lines; notes that the remuneration of the European Delegated Prosecutors reached EUR 8.7 million, and it represents the main operational expenditure because of the increased number of European Delegated Prosecutors in place over 2022; observes that missions and operational meeting costs represented 5.2% of the operational expenditure (EUR 1.1 million) compared to 2.9% in 2021, and for missions alone the increase in 2022 compared to 2021 (after the EPPO gained financial autonomy) was 170%, as a consequence of the increase in staff and external activities in the first full year of operations; also notes that EUR 2.8 million was committed for translation services, representing 14% of the operational expenditures, compared to 7.6% in 2021;
6. Observes that a forecast of the expenditure related to the EPPO’s activities is very complex because of the level of detection of fraud, the typology and nature of the cases, the EPPO’s efficiency in leading investigations and prosecutions in consideration of their mandatory nature and of the national judicial systems’ procedures and constraints, the lack of a fixed correlation between the number of investigations and their costs, and last but not least, the magnitude of the financial interests of the Union that are to be protected; also observes that it is difficult to estimate the forecast of expenditure for the caseload related to the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF)-because of the unprecedented implementation mode and sheer volume of resources;
7. Recalls its call to factor in the impact of the deployment of the RRF in the forecast that the EPPO is to communicate to Commission in the framework of the budgetary procedure; shares the view that the workload of the EPPO will increase in the coming years, in particular the number of RRF cases (only 15 cases were opened in 2022, but more will be opened in 2023 as it reaches its’ implementation peak) and that a larger number of cases in the trial phase will require a different focus than those in the investigation phase;
8. Regarding the amount of resources allocated to the EPPO, is of the opinion that the budgetary and human resources allocated should be adequate to allow the efficient carrying out of its mission and the normal handling of the related administrative procedures, and calls on the Commission to engage in a dialogue with the EPPO to find adequate ways to support it in its work, with the knowledge that in the context of a growing number of complex cases, additional resources will be needed; notes that, also in this regard, an increasing number of legal challenges are expected, calling into question the interpretation of the EPPO’s legal framework and its integration into the Member States’ judicial systems or before of the Court of Justice of the European Union;
9. Regarding the use of the resources allocated to the EPPO, understands that the EPPO engages in a continuous update and revision of its internal financial rules governing the financial aspects of its operations; welcomes, to this end, the ongoing dialogue with the Commission and is aware that, in line with the suggestions made the Commission, a recent Decision of the College of the EPPO amended its financial rules by adding the possibility to conclude agreements with the competent authorities of Member States and to conclude contracts without having recourse to a public procurement procedure, where procurement is not possible;
10. Understands that, in 2022, a pilot framework agreement was launched, for the reimbursement of claims made under Article 91(6) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1939, to cover exceptionally costly investigation measures carried out at national level on behalf of the EPPO;
11. Points out the need to allow Article 91(6) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 to be implemented properly and reiterates its call for an adaptation of the Financial Regulation as it currently does not allow expenses incurred by national justice systems to be reimbursed; underlines that the need to have terms in the Financial Regulation that are compatible with the characteristics of prosecution and investigation expenditure has also been raised in the framework of the recast of that Regulation; calls, in this specific regard, on the Commission and on the Council to provide tangible support to the proposals that are brought forward in the recast trilogue negotiations;
12. Highlights that following the start of the EPPO’s operational activity, the 2017 Legislative Financial Statement was no longer fit-for-purpose due to a significantly underestimated workload, and no update to it has been proposed; in this regard, believes that the absence of a mid-term budgetary review for the EPPO prevents the EPPO from having a clear understanding of the resources available for the future activities of the already existing cases and to anticipate budget implementation preparatory activities before the end of the budgetary adoption process;
13. Reiterates its view that the absence of a mid-term resource framework for the EPPO, both in terms of budget and staff, at a time when operations need to be swiftly ramped-up and administrative foundations established, limits the options that should be made available to achieve maximal flexibility in the development of an organisational infrastructure for a project as innovative as the EPPO;
14. Is aware the the EPPO has been striving for cooperation and coordination with Member States on how fraud affecting the RRF should be reported to the EPPO and handled at investigative level and prosecutorial stage, and on how the EPPO could effectively intervene in this regard; reiterates its call on the Commission to provide adequate guidance to the EPPO on the remedial measures to be adopted following detection and prosecution of fraud affecting the RRF and to keep the budgetary authority informed regarding the available options;
Internal management, performance and internal control
15. Observes the increase in crime reports submitted to the EPPO (3318 in 2022 compared to 2832 in 2021) and the consequent increase of opened investigations (865 in 2022 with estimated damages amounting to 9.9 billion, compared to 576 in 2021); notes that the number of closed cases (251 in 2022 compared to 57 in 2021) and the number of indictments (87 in 2022 compared to 5 in 2021) together with the freezing orders obtained by the EPPO amounted to EUR 359.1 million in 2022 alone (against EUR 516 million requested); notes that, in 2022, 20 cases were concluded in Court, and deems it important that the EPPO reports systematically on the follow-up to these cases in terms of the financial measures adopted (confiscation and/or recovery) to provide a clearer understanding of the impact of the EPPO’s actions; calls on the Commission to explore the most appropriate avenues to assist the EPPO in the monitoring and follow-up activities, in such a way that the EPPO’s resources are not diverted from their investigative and prosecutorial tasks; encourages the EPPO, where possible and appropriate, to engage in better cooperation with other components of the Anti-Fraud Architecture, such as Eurojust and Europol, or using -via OLAF- the Anti-Fraud Coordination Services (AFCOS) established in the Member States;
16. Calls on the EPPO to put a system in place to monitor efficiency gains, time and cost savings and appreciates the adoption of a quality management system to optimise key processes and achieve an increase in organisational performance, service quality and cost-effectiveness; understands that some procedures have been reengineered to reduce unnecessary administrative burden and redundancies;
17. Understands that the EPPO employs a risk-based approach across its activities, with a focus on identifying high-risk areas; welcomes the adoption of the EPPO Administrative Internal Control Environment Policy and invites the management of the EPPO to monitor the effective implementation of the 17 internal control principles to verify that they are continuously adapted to the EPPO’s organszational maturity growth path; appreciates, in this regard, the assessment recently performed resulting in an implementation roadmap focusing on the deficiencies identified; points out that the main residual high risk areas have been identified as originating from a lack of resources (where the EPPO is forced to choose between activities equally essential to the delivery of its mandate or where there is a failure to deliver reasonable assurance on compliance with all the administrative standards);
18. Welcomes the adoption of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for both operational and administrative activities, linked to the annual and multi-annual work programme; observes that the main KPIs for operational activities do not include any specific reference to the amounts recovered from the Union’s budget, the safeguard of which is ultimately the raison d'être of the Anti-Fraud Architecture of which the EPPO is an important component; asks the EPPO to adopt indicators linked to the achievement of this essential task;
19. Appreciates the adoption by the EPPO College, in 2022, of the Internal Audit Capability’s Internal Audit Charter and risk-based audit plan, identifying the Internal Auditing priorities for 2022–2024; encourages the Internal Audit Service (IAS) and the Internal Audit Capability (IAC) to coordinate their actions with a view to advising and assisting the EPPO in the establishment of its main core processes and the achievement of its objectives;
20. Remarks that the EPPO is aiming to achieve full compliance with the Union’s public administration management standards, and recalls that the adoption of a comprehensive business continuity plan is amongst such basic requirements;
Human resources, equality and staff well-being
21. Observes the upward trend in the number of staff, increasing from 58 in 2020, to 122 in 2021, to 217 by the end 2022; is aware that, for 2022, the EPPO requested 171 temporary agents, 48 contractual agents and 29 seconded national experts, representing a total of 248 posts (compared to the situation in 2021, with 95 temporary agents, 35 contract agents, and 0 SNEs for a total of 130 posts); notes that the budgetary authority granted 100% of the requested posts;
22. Points out that, in 2022, the EPPO’s efforts to recruit an adequate number of qualified staff with fast procedures resulted in the hiring of 85 statutory agents in the central office and 22 EDPs in national offices; notes that, with 217 of the 248 budgeted posts filled at end 2022, the occupancy rate of posts filled by temporary agents, contract agents and SNEs decreased to 87,5% (compared to 94% in 2021) having regard to, while for the EDPs the occupancy rate rose to 82,1% (with 115 out of the 140 budgeted EDP posts filled) compared to 68% in 2021 (with only 95 out the 140 budgeted EDP posts filled) bringing the overall global occupancy rate to 85,56% (compared to 81% in 2021);
23. Understands that the administrative and central support functions are expected to grow, in line with the larger operational population, and that additional recruitment will also be critical in the area of Digital and Security Services; appreciates that the additional operational needs have been included in the EPPO Single Programming Document 2024-2026 and Budget request for 2024;
24. Is aware that the Luxembourgish labour market is very competitive, and that the conditions offered by the Union administration are neither attractive against the local market (subject to diverse salary indexations throughout the year), nor do they adequately take into account the high cost of living (especially in the housing domain); understands that this difficult situation is even more acute for trainees and contract agents, for this reason, contract agents are in the process of being progressively phased out in favour of temporary agent positions as they benefit from a more favourable contract; notes that the attraction and retention of personnel has become even more difficult in 2022 because of the inflation rate and increased cost of living, and that compensation figures are not having the same positive impact as it is outside the Union administration, where national wage indexations have maintained the protection of the citizens’ purchasing power;
25. Observes that, at the end of 2022, geographical and gender balance is adequately pursued overall across the 217 members of staff (with 122 men and 95 women); remarks, however, that the gender distribution amongst the senior and middle management positions (four to one) is still suboptimal and reiterates that this aspect should be improved in the framework of the overall diversity strategy, including adequate encouragement for people with disabilities to apply; reiterates its request to the EPPO to adopt its charter on diversity and inclusion without delay, in consideration of the increase of staff in the last year;
26. Remarks that, by the end of 2022, 275 out of 332 staff (82,83% compared to 186 staff that is 86% in 2021) were deployed in investigative activities (temporary agents, contract agents, SNEs and EDPs) while 57 members of staff were engaged in Administrative Support and Control Functions (17,17%) and 9 investigative posts stayed vacant;
27. Is pleased by the increased number of EDPs recruited in several Member States; is aware that the participation of qualified candidates could be enhanced, and the appointment process could be more selective by adopting a clear career perspective and more favourable administrative discipline on social security and health insurance coverage; believes that the creation of a specific status for EDPs, as suggested by the nature of their judicial function, would make these posts more appealing; calls on the EPPO and the Commission to explore all possible solutions in order to enhance their dialogue towards achieving this result, taking into consideration the benefits that this would create in terms of competences and operational efficiency; reiterates its view that this situation provides additional support to the call for a revision of Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 and of the EPPO’s status;
28. Observes that the EPPO still employs external service providers working on site (39 members of staff in 2022); is aware that, once again, during of 2022, the EPPO had to resort to the use of interim staff for financial transactions, in violation of its own financial rules; understands that this decision, which was transparently disclosed, was imposed by the need to deploy the available statutory staff in investigative and prosecutorial roles; remarks, however, that the EPPO has stopped relying on interim staff to process financial transactions following its increased staffing capacity;
29. Observes the increased costs of training courses in 2022 and understands that this resulted in a more intensive use of the EU Learn platform, the cost of which almost doubled;
30. Stresses that two bodies of rules currently define flexible working arrangements and the teleworking regime, the Decision of the EPPO College on working time adopted in October 2021 is applicable only to prosecutors and the administrative director, and the Decision of the EPPO College adopted in December 2022 is applicable to the remaining staff; stresses that both Decisions are in force and applied simultaneously to the respective addressees;
31. Understands that the first decision is more restrictive and it tailors the working time and related options for management levels to the demands of the EPPO, to guarantee consistency and continuity of the decision-making processes, while the second aims to optimise private and work-life balance; observes that a similar distinction is adopted for the teleworking regime, where management is entitled to perform teleworking for a maximum of 60 days per calendar year, while other staff can opt to telework between 20% and 60% of the weekly working time; notes that both staff groups can telework from abroad up to a limit of 10 working days; encourages the EPPO to consult its staff by launching a survey to verify the level of satisfaction and to consult the Staff Committee on any further decisions to be taken on this matter;
32. Remarks that no case of burnout or harassment have been reported and that the number of long-term sick leave is very limited; welcomes the adoption of a structured procedure for reporting cases of harassment by the European Chief Prosecutor and by the European Prosecutors as well as its divulgation to all the staff;
33. Understands that the EPPO will devote increasing resources to staff well-being and strongly encourages the EPPO to harmonise its current and future policies on inclusion, harassment and equality and to periodically launch surveys among its staff, where possible by promoting peer-review with other components of the anti-fraud architecture (Eurojust, OLAF, etc) and in general encouraging diversity to make the workplace more attractive to candidates with specific needs;
34. Observes that no trainees were recruited in 2022 but preparatory work to establish the conditions for future HR management components included traineeship as one of them; endorses the proposal and the execution of a traineeship pilot programme in early 2023, the results of which are currently being examined with a view to implementing a traineeship programme as from 2024; stresses that the challenges imposed by the cost of living in Luxembourg represent a significant obstacle for potential trainees;
Ethical framework and transparency
35. Notes that the EPPO’s Code of Conduct outlines the expected standards of behaviour for employees at all levels and that, during 2022, the ethical decision-making processes were reinforced by implementing specific guidelines for addressing ethical dilemmas and making ethical decisions on outside activities and acceptance of gifts and hospitality;
36. Observes that regular training sessions (2 times per month) are organised for the EPPO’s staff on the EPPO’s ethical framework, Code of Good Administrative behaviour and the Anti-Fraud Strategy and that in 2022 a dedicated EPPO intranet section on the ethical framework was launched; remarks, in this regard, that the current participation of staff in awareness-raising courses appears limited (69 members of staff in total participated in training courses in 2022); asks the EPPO to explore viable options aiming to increase participation; regrets that a survey has not been launched yet in order to assess the awareness of staff regarding ethics and encourages the EPPO to intensify its dialogue with staff via surveys and fostering staff attendance at periodic general gatherings;
37. Welcomes the conflict of interest policy currently under development; notes that dedicated conflict of interest rules have been established for the members of the EPPO College, the EDPs, and the members of staff of the operational unit; observes that a code of professional standards for EPPO staff responsible for budget implementation and the charter of tasks and responsibilities of authorising officers by delegation provide the rules applicable in situations of possible conflict of interest; observes, however, that while the EPPO complies with the general provision under Article 16 of the Staff Regulations, it has not adopted a targeted policy on revolving doors;
38. Notes that, in 2022, the EPPO’s Internal Control Officer performed a review of the EPPO Anti-Fraud Strategy 2021-2022 action plan following which an updated version (Anti-fraud Strategy 2023-2025) was adopted on 1 March 2023 targeting the shortcomings and the emerging risks identified during the first year of implementation;
39. Stresses that a dedicated whistleblowing and anti-retaliation procedure is not yet formalised but it is being developed during 2023 and that, currently, the EPPO’s Financial Rules provide instructions on the measures to be followed by a member of staff or other servant, including national experts seconded to the EPPO;
Digitalisation, Cybersecurity and data protection
40. Understands that the Commission, via its Directorate-General for Informatics (now renamed Digital Services) will not be able to provide the EPPO with digital workplace services after mid-2024, due to a change in the Commission’s IT systems and an IT policy limiting the provision of digital workplace services to only Commission’s services; notes that EPPO’s initial approach has been to prioritise resources on the setting and working of essential digital services linked to its operational activities, such as its Case Management System, while acknowledging that the EPPO’s digital services, which are at least in part diverging from the Commission’s, would have needed, in the mid-term, a tailored approach; observes that the intended interruption of service by the Commission could create an additional problem to EPPO’s organisation in the crucial phase of consolidating its establishment; calls on the Commission to facilitate the EPPO’s transition towards a satisfactory level of digital autonomy in its core services;
41. Understands that the current challenge in digitalisation is enhancing automatised searches and tasks in order to increase the performance and usability of the EPPO’s Case Management System, which is essential to give to the EPPO a “helicopter view” of the criminal networks and identify links between cases; observes that reducing outsourcing and strengthening security are material to an efficient response to increased physical and cyber threats to the EPPO’s central and decentralised offices;
42. Notes the increased budget invested in IT projects in 2022 (EUR 11.3 million compared to EUR 6.1 million in 2021 in the period of financial autonomy); appreciates in particular the attention devoted to the setting up and implementation of the EPPO’s Case Management System (CMS) which is expected to provide the capability of interoperability with 22 Member States; understands that the efficiency of the existing tools in terms of interoperability is suboptimal and that only the adoption of minimum common data exchange agreements and judicial interoperability tools will allow an effective exchange of information and cooperation via the different platforms used by the various Member States; encourages the EPPO to further pursue coordination with Member States and cooperation with the relevant IBOAs to design a common exchange model compared to the current situation where hit-no-hit is based on bilateral models;
43. Underlines the increased threat to the EPPO’s IT structural integrity stemming from the aggressiveness of the organised crime, combatted by the EPPO, and resulting in the need to step up physical and digital security; endorses the EPPO’s intention to build its own cybersecurity capacity to supplement and collaborate with the services of CERT-EU and DG DIGIT;
44. Appreciates the EPPO’s development of its own Case Management Ecosystem the components of which are all hosted in the EPPO data centre and managed by the EPPO’s staff, guaranteeing the EPPO control, retention and ownership of systems and data processed;
Buildings and security
45. Welcomes the signature of the lease agreement with the Luxembourg authorities for the use of the building currently hosting the EPPO’s headquarters (TOB building) and formalising the provision of the current EPPO offices rent free until 31 December 2029; understands that such agreement may be extended tacitly on an annual basis, unless terminated by either party with twelve months’ notice; observes that the EPPO pays a service charge of EUR 716 724 per year and one-off costs for additional security and other additional facilities requested by the EPPO; points out that the refurbishment started in 2022 for two additional floors of the Tower building to be used by the EPPO and to be adapted to the nature of EPPO work, which is not fully compatible with open spaces and hot desks;
46. Stresses that, in terms of physical security, the EPPO has implemented security measures, equipment and processes to address threats to its premises, assets and personnel; points out that a number of policies, procedures and guidelines also support the implementation of physical security measures; appreciates, in this regard, the carrying out in 2022 of a physical security risk assessment to identify gaps and to address them; is aware that, in June 2023, the EPPO asked for 21 additional posts to enhance its security capability, and that such request was satisfied in November 2023 with an amending budget covering 8 posts, and the remaining 13 posts will be incorporated into the budget for 2024;
Environment and sustainability
47. Is aware that because the EPPO’s headquarters are in Luxembourg and the relevant services are provided by the national authorities, who are also in charge of investments related to sustainability and energetic performance, the EPPO has not engaged in any specific action for renewable energy such as the installation of solar panels, EMAS rules and CO2 offsetting;
48. Understands that the TOB building is located in the proximity of public transport and invites the EPPO to build on the current situation to adopt a strategy for the sustainable mobility of its staff;
Interinstitutional cooperation
49. Praises the efforts deployed by the EPPO to engage in intensive cooperation and coordination with partners and stakeholders and believes that the EPPO’s role as the major operational component of the Anti-Fraud Architecture implies a continuous effort of communication and coordination with the several partners, whose action has been designed to be reciprocally complementary;
50. Points out the importance of the operational coordination and cooperation between the EPPO and OLAF, having specific regard to the opening of complementary OLAF investigations and administrative investigations in support of the EPPO; calls on the two Offices to further progress itheir dialogue to strengthen their cooperation in consideration of the benefits that would stem from it in terms of efficiency and sound use of the available resources;
51. Underlines that the notifications from the EPPO to the Commission foreseen by Article 103(2) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 represent an innovative tool for the safeguard of the Union’s budget; observes that in this specific regard no feedback has been yet provided by either party, preventing the legislators from gaining a comprehensive understanding of the underlying issues; welcomes the efforts of the EPPO and the Commission to improve the internal mechanism ensuring the transmission of such notifications and stresses that the working group recently established with the Commission should ensure that EPPO notifications, for the purpose of administrative recovery as provided in Article 103(2)(c), duly and effectively enable the Commission to maximise recovery to the Union budget, while complying with the confidentiality and proper conduct of the investigative actions; insists that the annual meetings on the implementation of the Commission-EPPO Working Arrangement should focus on the coordination of adopting protective and corrective measures to safeguard the Union budget; calls on the EPPO to advise the Delegated Prosecutors in the Member States in their efforts that support the Commission’s actions to safeguard the Union budget; once again asks both the EPPO and the Commission to report on this specific matter;
52. Remarks that working arrangements and working agreements have been signed between EPPO and its main partners: Europol, Eurojust, OLAF, Commission, European Court of Auditors and the EIB Group in the spheres of prevention, detection, analysis and intervention; understands that the EPPO is building an in-house capacity to support its work with case-by-case analysis; encourages the EPPO and its partners to enhance their cooperation in order to build on the set of competences and experiences already tested, to avoid duplication and loss of focus on the core of the mandate of each component of the Anti-Fraud Architecture and to optimise the use of the available resources;
53. Understands that negotiations with Parliament to update the working arrangements are still ongoing; believes that this situation could provide an opportunity to explore new opportunities for communication and cooperation between the EPPO and the competent EP Committees;
54. Notes that, in 2022, the EPPO had signed 20 Service Level Agreements (SLAs) or Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with other Union institutions and bodies and that this allowed for the maximisation of budgetary savings from the contractual instruments in place, in line with the principles of sound financial management;
55. Emphasises the importance of engaging in productive dialogue with non-participating Member States; notes that, in 2022, the five non-participating Member States were involved in 86 EPPO investigations (compared to 48 investigations in 2021);
56. Observes that cooperation, based on the relevant Union acts on judicial cooperation in criminal matters, works smoothly with Denmark, Hungary and Sweden, even if at a different pace than with the participating countries; notes that, with Poland, the working arrangement has been finalised at technical level but it was not signed in 2022 because the amendments to the Polish Code of Criminal Procedure (recognising the EPPO as a competent authority for the relevant Union instruments on judicial cooperation in criminal matters) only came into force on 27 December 2022; remarks that this also resulted in the EPPO reporting to the Commission, in accordance with the Conditionality Regulation, about the systematic lack of cooperation by Poland during 2021 and 2022 and its direct negative impact on the EPPO’s capacity to protect the Union budget by means of criminal investigations and prosecutions;
57. Regrets that, in 2022, the Irish authorities have refused to cooperate with the EPPO and to execute several requests for mutual legal assistance sent by the EDPs, invoking a lack of legal basis; endorses the decision of the European Chief Prosecutor to report the situation to the Commission, in accordance with the Conditionality Regulation; understands, however, that in recent times (November 2023), the Irish authorities have amended their domestic legislation providing the legal framework for mutual legal assistance to the EPPO;
58. Reiterates that the lack of cooperation with the EPPO by any of the Member States, either participating or not in the enhanced cooperation, runs the risk of creating niches of immunity and privilege that make the defence of the financial interests of the Union uneven and inefficient at best; calls on the Commission and the Member States concerned to make any possible effort to integrate the current scenario with the few but still very important missing components, promoting the extension of the participation in the EPPO by the other still non-participating Member States in such a way that strengthens the effectiveness of the protection of the Union and national budgets;
Communication
59. Praises the Office’s efforts to enhance internal and external communication; is aware that internal communication has been improved to strengthen cooperation between units and facilitate the exchange of information and best practices; appreciates the intensive actions carried out via social network platforms and is monitoring trends in order to seize the opportunities offered by free open-source self-hosted social network platforms;
60. Believes that the EPPO’s efforts in communicating its activities and raising awareness among taxpayers about the magnitude of its actions is very important; calls on the EPPO to clearly communicate results and findings, striking an optimal balance between transparency and public interest, on the one hand, and confidentiality and proper conduct of the investigation on the other;
Effect of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine
61. Understands that, in 2022, the increased inflation rate, a consequence of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, impacted the EPPO’s general budget implementation, (resulting in a 6.9% indexation in staff remuneration and a general increase of prices in the acquisition of goods and services);
62. Underlines the importance of the EPPO’s actions intended to maintain intensive communication and exchanges with the Ukrainian authorities, as well as with the other Union partners involved in expenditure and fraud detection activities in Ukraine;
63. Appreciates the effort made by the EPPO to clarify that offences affecting Union funds allocated to third countries fall under its jurisdiction, even if committed in whole or in part outside the combined territories of the 22 participating Member States, whenever the offence is committed by a national of a participating Member State or by an Union official, or where a constituent element the offence takes place in Belgium or in Luxembourg -considered as the seats of the Union Institutions, bodies, offices or agencies involved in the expenditure of the Union budget- and even if the other constituent elements of the offence have occurred in Ukraine or other third country;
64. Observes that the EPPO signed two working arrangements with the Ukrainian Prosecutor-General’s office and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau to facilitate cooperation in investigations on the basis of the 1959 Convention of the Council of Europe on mutual assistance in criminal matters; notes that training courses are organised in its premises for Ukrainian prosecutors and investigators to share their expertise in financial and complex investigations and that regular meetings at strategic and operational level have taken place since the signature of the working arrangements;
65. Welcomes the readiness of the EPPO’s central office to activate a task force with Ukrainian authorities to coordinate investigations; believes that, in the context of the future Ukrainian Facility mechanisms, the existing framework and the partnership established with Ukrainian authorities would support investigation and prosecution and it would facilitate swift and reliable cooperation; calls on the authorities concerned to adopt a new agreement in mutual assistance in criminal matters between the Union and Ukraine to further strengthen cooperation in the specific context of the Facility mechanism, in particular for the seizure, confiscation and recovery of assets.