The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) will be an independent and decentralised prosecution office of the European Union, with the competence to investigate, prosecute and bring to judgment crimes against the EU budget, such as fraud, corruption or serious cross-border VAT fraud.

The EPPO will operate as a single office across all participating Member States and will combine European and national law-enforcement efforts in a unified, seamless and efficient approach. The EPPO will be the key actor to fight crimes against the EU budget, which is EU taxpayers’ money. The EPPO will ensure that its activities respect the rights guaranteed by the Charter of fundamental rights of the EU, including the right to fair trial and the right to defence.

From 2021 the judiciary, prosecutorial service, legal practitioners and law enforcement officials Member State’s judiciary, prosecutorial services, will have to work with the EPPO in tackling large-scale, cross-border crimes against the EU budget. Understanding the competences of the EPPO and how those effect national criminal justice in based on Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 is therefore vital in efficient handling of criminal investigations and prosecutions related to the crimes against the EU’s financial interest.

The seminar provides a practice oriented introduction to the working structures and functions of the EPPO and explains how it will collect evidence, investigate and prosecute in cooperation with the national authorities in winding up crimes against the EU’s financial interest.

The objective of the seminar is to make legal practitioners ready to work with the EPPO by explaining what competences and procedures have the EPPO at its disposal and how national law complements those?