On discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the- European Public Prosecutors Office for the financial year 2024

OPINION

The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs calls on the Committee on Budgetary Control, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following into its motion for a resolution:

1. Notes a consequential increase in the caseload of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) reaching 2 666 active investigations in 2024, out of which almost 30% carried a cross-border dimension and the achievement of a substantial increase indictment rates (47%) and asset freezes obtained by European Delegated Prosecutors;

2. Points to the increasing number of cases related to cross-border VAT fraud, which account for over half of estimated damage in EPPO cases; notes furthermore a substantial increase of investigations relating to the implementation of funding of NextGenerationEU (25% increase);

3. Emphasizes that vast majority of the investigations into fraud and other crimes against the EU budget continue to be hampered by divergent national legislation and uneven enforcement efforts by the Member States;

4. Stresses that its workload was considerably underestimated in the initial budgetary framework, leaving the EPPO structurally underfunded; underlines that the increasing volume of investigations cannot be managed without adequate staffing and resources; calls on the Commission to engage with EPPO and provide an updated assessment of EPPO needs in view of the next multiannual financial framework, which should also take into account the extension of the EPPO’s territorial competence to Sweden and Poland;

5. Emphasises that the review of the legislative framework governing Europol, Eurojust, OLAF and EPPO should offer opportunities to maximise the efficiency in pursuing common objectives in particular in the fight against fraud, corruption and other criminal damage to the EU's financial interest, while avoiding duplication of efforts; calls on the EPPO to establish solid cooperation with other agencies pursuing shared objectives and offering high potential of complementarity; points in this regard in particular to the newly established Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) and the future European Customs Authority;

6. Recalls the commitment of Commissioner McGrath to accelerate the review of the EPPO's mandate including potential extension of its competence; emphasizes its repeated calls to extend the EPPO's jurisdiction to other areas of the serious crime, including the violation of EU sanctions;

7. Acknowledges the need for EPPO to develop, with appropriate resources, autonomous digital systems to deal with increasingly complex cross-border financial crimes, with enhanced sophistication involving emerging digital technologies; expresses concern about delays in the development of its Case Management System; notes the important amount of data EPPO collects during investigations in particular in complex financial, organized crime and money-laundering cases and which remains under-utilized due to the lack of internal analytical capacity; welcomes the adoption of the EPPO cyber-security strategy and cyber-security framework and calls for its comprehensive implementation.