European Public Prosecutor's Office
The criminal misuse of EU money affects all EU citizens. The idea behind the possible setting-up of a European public prosecutor's office is to be able to fight such crimes efficiently throughout the EU.
In times of economic crisis and budgetary restrictions, it is more important than ever to make sure that EU funds are legitimately used and that taxpayers' money is safeguarded against crime.
Tasks
The European Public Prosecutor's Office would be responsible for investigating, prosecuting and bringing to justice those who damage assets managed by or on behalf of the EU.
It would also exercise the functions of prosecutor in the competent courts of the EU countries, in relation to such offences.
The European Council may adopt a decision extending the powers of the European Public Prosecutor's Office to include serious crime having a cross-border dimension. To do so, the Council shall act unanimously after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament and consulting the Commission.
Functioning
The details regarding the functioning of the office will be established by means of regulations. These shall determine:
- the general rules applicable to the office;
- the conditions governing the performance of its functions;
- the rules of procedure applicable to its activities and those governing the admissibility of evidence;
- the rules applicable to the judicial review of procedural measures taken by it in the performance of its functions.
Establishing procedure
The European Public Prosecutor's Office may be established from Eurojust by adopting a series of regulations following a special legislative procedure. This requires the Council to act unanimously after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament.
In the absence of unanimity, a group of at least nine EU countries can go ahead with the project, by establishing enhanced cooperation.
Background
The Commission has already done preparatory work in this area, starting with the well known 'Corpus Juris' study.
The "Corpus Juris" is a set of rules devised by academics to improve the criminal law protection of the Community's financial interests. It proposed the creation of a "European Public Prosecutor".
The Commission took this process further by adopting a Green Paper on criminal-law protection of the financial interests of the Community and the establishment of a European Prosecutor 
[525 KB] in 2001, followed by extensive consultation and a follow-up report 
[284 KB] in 2003.
The discussion on the European Prosecutor found its way into the European Convention, and ultimately, the Lisbon Treaty. For the first time, Article 86 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU allows for the possibility of establishing the European Public Prosecutor's Office.
The article also defines the procedure for establishing the office.