European Parliament to vote on establishing EU Public Prosecutor’s Office

Four years after the establishment of a European Public Prosecutor’s Office was first proposed by the European Commission, the European Parliament is set to vote on its formation today.

If approved, the authority, which is to be based in Luxembourg, will investigate and prosecute fraud cases against the EU budget and cross-border VAT offences. While the European Parliament will likely green-light the proposal, the authority’s establishment highlights a major shortcoming of the EU’s integration process.

While most EU countries favour closer cooperation, the opposition of certain member states to hand over competencies to Brussels runs the risk of creating a multi-speed Europe, with some parts of the union more integrated than others.

Only 20 of the EU’s 27 member states voted to implement the proposal, severely constraining the authority’s power and limiting its ability to fulfil its mission of improving pan-European judicial collaboration.

Ironically, Poland and Hungary, two countries that reject the idea of a multi-speed Europe, have chosen not to adopt the proposal to establish a public prosecutor’s office.

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