Laura Codruța Kövesi warns that the European Public Prosecutor’s Office is being undermined through underfunding, legislative deadlocks, and political pressure: “It will be eliminated quietly precisely because it is doing its job” (Politico)

Laura Codruța Kövesi warns that the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), an institution she led for seven years, risks being undermined and “quietly eliminated” through underfunding, legislative deadlocks and political pressure. She made the statements in an interview with POLITICO ahead of the end of her term.

Kövesi says that EPPO is overwhelmed by its workload and that the resources allocated do not meet its needs. Although the institution should have 230 European delegated prosecutors, funding covers only 180. In Poland, where 24 prosecutors were needed, 15 are available, while in Hungary the European Commission reportedly proposed half of the requested budget.

The former head of Romania’s National Anticorruption Directorate also criticized the delay in revising the EPPO regulation, requested as early as 2021 to address procedural gaps and strengthen prosecutors’ independence. She accused European officials of focusing on new bureaucratic structures instead of supporting investigations into fraud and cross-border organized crime.

Kövesi also said that some politicians support judicial independence only as long as it does not affect their interests. She stated that, if she had to start over, she would not change anything about the way she carried out her mandate.