European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO)

Since the operational start of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) in June 2021, both offices have been cooperating closely and effectively with a common goal: protecting the EU’s financial interests.

The EPPO’s mandate to conduct criminal investigations and prosecutions in the anti-fraud field is achieved by means of criminal law enforcement, and OLAF remains the body responsible for administrative investigations at EU level. By working together, they can both ensure the full financial protection of the EU budget.

The mechanisms in place for both offices to work together efficiently provided the necessary tools for successful cooperation in the first year and a half. OLAF and EPPO have ensured no duplication of their actions by establishing close communication and efficient exchanges of operational information. The established legal framework equips both offices with the necessary tools to ensure their individual powers are combined to offer a joint response to fraud and irregularities affecting the EU budget. This common mission has proven to be more crucial than ever, given that the EU’s response to recent crisis has increased the overall available budget across the EU member states.

Moreover, OLAF and the EPPO are important sources of information for each other, mutually reporting allegations in their respective areas of competence. In 2022, OLAF reported 71 cases to EPPO, 16 of which emanated from Commission services. Based on OLAF’s reporting, 42 criminal investigations have been opened by the EPPO. In turn, the EPPO reported 9 cases to OLAF.

The current framework emphasises that OLAF and the EPPO are acting in complementarity of their mandates. This means that OLAF can conduct independent administrative investigations into the same facts as the EPPO’s criminal investigations. For example, OLAF can focus on determining the financial losses that occurred against the EU budget, while the EPPO pursues the criminal investigation to convict the suspects. This allows OLAF to address essential aspects of the protection of the EU’s financial interests, such as recommendations for speedy recovery, the adoption of administrative precautionary measures and the development of systemic recommendations for improvement where shortcomings are identified in administrative investigations (e.g. with regard to procurement procedures). These investigations are carried out in close cooperation with the EPPO upon mutual agreement.

In 2022, some successful actions undertaken by OLAF during complementary investigations were: conducting on-the-spot checks to verify the veracity of purchased material declared, detecting weaknesses in controls by national authorities managing EU funds, contrasting information provided by suppliers and establishing financial irregularities. Other actions included uncovering sophisticated fraud schemes in the revenue side and issuing the related financial recommendations, sometimes amounting to millions of euros.

In addition to complementary investigations, OLAF also provided its expertise to the EPPO to support it in its own investigations. For example, OLAF’s investigators assisted the EPPO by serving as expert witnesses in complex cases or analysed complex documentation of relevant EU projects and programmes. In fact, the EPPO has requested OLAF’s support in its investigations 20 times in 2022, and OLAF was able to assist the EPPO in 13 of these cases.

Given the introduction of new financial instruments and the increased deployment of the EU budget, OLAF and the EPPO foresee in the future an increase in the number of their respective investigations. The challenges ahead include the reinforcement and continuous progress of both Offices and their close cooperation, enhanced reporting and efficient exchanges of information. Ensuring complementarity and mutual support between the two Offices will continue to yield results for the overall protection of the EU’s financial interests.