Laura Kovesi, whose seven-year term ends on Friday, warns that the European Public Prosecutor’s Office risks being gradually weakened because of its work combating fraud and corruption.
In an interview with Politico, the outgoing head of the EPPO discusses Greece at length, focusing both on the pressure she says the institution faced and its investigation into illegal agricultural subsidies involving OPEKEPE.
“I am worried that the European Public Prosecutor’s Office will be quietly destroyed because it is doing its job,” Kovesi says, describing an environment in which limited resources, delays and attempts to challenge its independence threaten its effectiveness.
She describes the case in Greece over the renewal of the mandates of European Delegated Prosecutors as the most blatant attempt to intimidate the EPPO. She also warns that the forthcoming revision of the regulation governing the European Public Prosecutor’s Office will be a critical test for those who genuinely support an independent judiciary.
OPEKEPE investigation
Kovesi devotes particular attention to the OPEKEPE investigation, which has been at the centre of political disputes in Greece. She notes that the European Public Prosecutor’s Office has already brought charges in specific cases, which have proceeded to court.
Responding to criticism of the handling of the case and the submission of a case file to parliament to seek the lifting of immunity for 11 MPs—of whom four were ultimately sent to trial—the outgoing head of the EPPO rejects the claim that the European Public Prosecutor’s Office made a mistake.
“No, nothing went wrong on our part,” Kovesi says, clarifying that a request to waive immunity is not a judgement on the guilt of those involved, but a prerequisite for prosecutors to conduct an investigation and gather evidence.
Kovesi also rejects claims that investigations are influenced by the electoral cycle or are politically motivated. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office, she says, cannot suspend its work because an election is approaching.
“I see no connection between our work, our cases and election campaigns,” Kovesi says, adding that the backlash comes from politicians seeking to undermine the institution’s credibility and obstruct its work.
The priority, she stresses, is to ensure that honest farmers can access European funds, rather than the money going to people who falsely claimed to be beneficiaries and used it for luxury trips and cars.
Risks to independence
The outgoing head of the EPPO identifies three main risks to the institution’s future: underfunding, delays and bureaucracy.
She says that while the plan provides for 230 European Delegated Prosecutors, funding is available for only 180. Meanwhile, the revision of the regulation governing the European Public Prosecutor’s Office is being delayed, despite warnings issued as early as 2021.
Kovesi also points out that in cases involving powerful political figures or people with ties to political power, the EPPO faces difficulties in exercising its powers. She describes cases in which, after the European Public Prosecutor’s Office opens an investigation, a case on the same subject is opened at national level and the European authority’s jurisdiction is then challenged.
Finally, referring to calls in Greece to end cooperation with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, Kovesi says she believes withdrawal from the institution is “almost impossible”. In her view, such statements confirm the risk she describes: attempts to curb an institution’s powers and resources when its investigations touch powerful interests.
The issue at stake, she says, is not only the independence of prosecutors but also the protection of European and national budgets from organised criminal networks that exploit gaps in cooperation between member states.