WRITTEN QUESTION E-2268/02

by Christopher Heaton-Harris (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(24 July 2002)

Subject: European Public Prosecutor and enlargement

How does the Commission envisage the role of the European Public Prosecutor after the enlargement of the EU?

Could the Commission please comment on the state of the legal systems in the enlargement countries and if their systems are able to cope with the protection of the Community's financial interests?

Are the accession states' legal systems compatible with the proposal for a European Public Prosecutor?

Could the Commission please comment on how it will reconcile up to 10 new legal systems in addition to the 17 different legal systems currently in use in the EU? (Ex. Judicial powers of investigating magistrates and legal rights of the accused)

What problems does the Commission foresee with the implementation and administration of the European Public Prosecutor's office in the enlargement countries?

How will the Commission overcome these difficulties?

Answer given by Mrs Schreyer on behalf of the Commission

(20 September 2002)

The Green Paper on criminal-law protection of the financial interests of the Community and the establishment of a European Prosecutor(1) stated that of all the Community's relations with third countries, those with the countries that have applied for accession are of particular importance. They receive and will continue to receive significant levels of aid from the Community budget. The European Public Prosecutor (EPP) would be established most likely after accession. Once established, it would operate in the same way in all Member States of an enlarged Union.

In the context of both its pre-accession strategy and the accession negotiations, the Commission closely monitors the progress made by candidate countries with regard to legal approximation and their implementation capacity. The acquis on the protection of the Community's financial interests is fully covered by these negotiations, especially those on Chapters 24 (Justice and Home Affairs) and 28 (Financial control). Negotiations under both Chapter 24 and 28 have been provisionally closed with ten candidate countries. They are continuing with Bulgaria and Romania. No transitional periods have been requested under both chapters.

The Commission has co-financed a study on this matter (Study on criminal and administrative penalties, recovery, denunciation and the Corpus juris in the applicant countries, general report of Ch. Van den Wyngaert, 2001). Experts from the applicant countries have been involved in the preparation of the report. The study generally concludes that there appears to be no insurmountable problems for the integration of the Corpus Juris by the candidate countries, including the establishment of a EPP. A detailed report on each candidate country, which includes an explanation of the specificity of the legal system of each country, can be found in the study.

One of the objectives of the European Prosecutor is to resolve problems that occur as a result of the compartimentalisation of different legal systems. The aim of the EPP is to create a single investigation and prosecution area that dovetails with the 17 national legal systems of the current Union. Indeed, enlargement makes the Commission's proposals even more necessary. The problems linked to the current fragmentation of criminal law-enforcement will increase with enlargement. Under the proposals the EPP would throughout the Union direct investigations and prosecutions aimed at protecting the Community's financial interests; the protection of the rights of defendants, as well as trials, would remain with national courts.

There are no specific problems regarding the implementation and the administration of a European Public Prosecutor in the candidate countries. Indeed, any problems that may arise in the candidate countries in this framework will not differ from those that the current Member States might encounter.

In this context, the Commission wishes to draw the Honourable Member's attention to the fact that the Commission supports the establishment of an anti-fraud co-ordination structure or service in each candidate country, which will be responsible for the co-ordination of all legislative, administrative and operational aspects of the protection of the Communities' financial interests. Such a service or structure will co-operate closely with the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and eventually the European Public Prosecutor. It is important to note that such a structure or service already exists in several Member States and candidate countries.

(1) COM(2001) 715 final.