Raising the bar? Thoughts on the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. CEPS Policy Insights No 2017/39, 30 November 2017

摘要

After almost four years of negotiation and 20 years of academic and political debate, the CouncilRegulation setting up the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) was approved in October 2017, inthe framework of the enhanced cooperation established in April 2017. The creation of a Europeanprosecuting authority is a historic achievement for the European Union, especially when a wave ofpopulism – as epitomised by Brexit – has undermined the process of integration.The EPPO Regulation is probably the most ambitious instrument of EU law adopted so far, since itcreates the first EU body with direct powers regarding individuals in the field of criminal law. The Officewill be empowered to investigate and prosecute crimes affecting the financial interests of the EU.Recent calls, including those from Commission President Juncker and French President Macron, for anextension of the EPPO’s powers to cases of cross-border terrorism bode well for the likely acceptanceof this Office in the EU in the years to come. Yet the final text of the Regulation raises several concerns,such as those relating to the impact of supranational investigations on human rights and, moregenerally, about the expected effectiveness of the Office, given its cumbersome and multi-layeredarchitecture.This paper looks at the main provisions of the Regulation and the challenges it poses, focusing on thestructure, powers, and competence of the EPPO. It also considers the judicial review of its acts, theprotection of the rights of suspects and accused persons, and relations between the Office and itspartners. The analysis shows that the Commission’s innovative vision of a centralised prosecution at EUlevel, with its echoes of federalism, has been watered down in negotiations in the Council and replacedwith the usual intergovernmental, collegiate vision that underpins numerous EU judicial cooperationstructures and instruments.