The European Public Prosecutor’s Office has signed on 18 June 2021 an agreement with the European Commission. It establishes the modalities of cooperation between the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and the European Commission for the purpose of protecting the financial interests of the EU.
It outlines that the Commission shall report to the EPPO, without undue delay, any criminal conduct in respect of which the EPPO can exercise its competence. In order to speed up the process, EPPO may be directed to single contact points within the relevant Directorates-General and equivalent departments of the Commission.
The negotiation on the Commission databases resulted in an agreed list distinguishing between databases to which EPPO will be provided direct or indirect access. The Agreement contains practical arrangements to ensure this access (contact points, facultative template, time-limit for the EC to answer).
The agreement also elaborates on the reporting from the EPPO to the EC in line with the provisions of the EPPO regulation or the Financial regulation. Finally, in full respect of each institution’s independence, the EPPO and the Commission will cooperate closely and in a timely manner as regards the application of the rule of law conditionality mechanism under Regulation No 2092/2020.
The full text of the agreement can be found here.