EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1.CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL

•Reasons for and objectives of the proposal

Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 implementing enhanced cooperation on the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (‘EPPO’) was adopted on 12 October 2017 and entered into force on 20 November 2017. The EPPO assumed the investigative and prosecutorial tasks conferred on it by such Regulation on 1 June 2021. The EPPO is responsible for investigating, prosecuting and bringing to judgment the perpetrators of, and accomplices to, criminal offences affecting the Union’s financial interests which are provided for in Directive (EU) 2017/1371 and determined by Regulation (EU) 2017/1939.

In accordance with Article 8 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1939, the European Prosecutors are part of the central level of the EPPO. Together with the European Chief Prosecutor, all European Prosecutors, that is, one European Prosecutor per Member State participating in the enhanced cooperation on the establishment of the EPPO, form the College of the EPPO. The Council appointed the first 22 European Prosecutors of the EPPO in July 2020.

The mandate of the European Prosecutors is of six years and the Council may decide to extend it for a maximum of three years (Article 16(3) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1939). Article 16(4) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 provides that every three years there should be a partial replacement of one third of the European Prosecutors and requires the Council to adopt transitional rules for the appointment of the European Prosecutors for and during the first mandate period. On this basis, the Council adopted Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/598 of 9 April 2019, which provides that the mandate of the European Prosecutors from eight Member States, determined by drawing lots, should be of three years and should not be renewable. The mandate of these European Prosecutors will thus expire in July 2023.

Article 16(2) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 provides that the Council should select and appoint one of the candidates nominated by the Member States for the post of European Prosecutors after having received the reasoned opinion of the selection panel referred to in Article 14(3) of the same Regulation. In accordance with the latter provision, the selection panel should comprise twelve persons, to be appointed by the Council on a proposal from the Commission, and chosen from among former members of the Court of Justice and the Court of Auditors, former national members of Eurojust, members of national supreme courts, high level prosecutors and lawyers of recognised competence. One of the persons chosen should be proposed by the European Parliament. The mandate of the current members of the selection panel expireds on 9 October 2022, in accordance with Article 1 of Council Decision (EU) 2018/1275.

As the selection panel needs to be renewed in order to carry out the interviews of the candidates nominated by the Member States for the replacement of eight European Prosecutors, the Commission proposeds a Council Decision for the appointment of the members of the panel on 28 October 2022. After the adoption of the proposal, one of the members proposed by the Commission and chosen from among high level prosecutors took up new functions at the Ministry of Justice. As a consequence, he ceased to qualify as a ‘high level prosecutor’, as required by Article 14(3) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1939. In order to replace the proposed member who has become ineligible, the Commission proposes another candidate chosen from among high level prosecutors. All the members proposed with this amended proposal meet the above-mentioned requirements set out in Article 14(3) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1939. One of the persons chosen was proposed by the European Parliament on 7 June 2022. When proposing the twelve members of the selection panel, the Commission has taken into account the need to ensure balance in terms of geographical distribution, gender and knowledge of legal systems of the Member States participating in the EPPO.