On discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2022, Section III – European Public Prosecutor’s Office

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SUGGESTIONS

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:

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;

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;

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;

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;

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;

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;

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;

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;