The European Public Prosecutor’s Office started operating as of today, June 1. European citizens will be able to send signals to the institution in their own language. European Chief Prosecutor Laura Kövesi and EU Commissioners Vera Yurova and Didier Reynders gathered in Luxembourg for the start.
Bilyana Gyaurova-Wegertseder, director of the Bulgarian Institute for Legal Initiatives, reminded in „The World and We“ programme that in 2017 it was established by a regulation adopted at that time.
„The main idea of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office is to prevent serious abuses and fraud in the use of various EU financial instruments,“ Bilyana Gyaurova-Wegertseder said.
In 2018 alone, the European Commission said that VAT fraud and evasion amounted to about 140 billion euros, and in 2020 these numbers are expected to be higher, as the pandemic has increased quite seriously the corruption risks of misuse of VAT.
„The European Public Prosecutor’s Office is a body that must prosecute crimes related to VAT fraud, other types of fraud – mostly tax fraud – with European funds, as well as organized crime groups, again related to the misuse of EU funds,“ the director of the Bulgarian Institute for Legal Initiatives stressed. According to her, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office is also a step towards a higher degree of EU federalization.
Any EU citizen can send a signal to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, which is in Luxembourg, but can also send a signal to the European Delegated Prosecutors located in the 22 EU Member States participating in the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
