The saga of the EPPO appointments

The visit to Athens was expected to beryllium tense. The caput of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), Laura Kovesi, was coming to Greece astatine a clip when the instauration she represents has recovered itself astatine the halfway of governmental controversy. She, arsenic well arsenic her Greek counterparts working astatine the EPPO’s bureau successful Athens, who are investigating the country’s monolithic ungraded involving hundreds of millions of euros of EU workplace funds, person been targeted by authorities officials for their handling of the case.

However, some her beingness astatine the Delphi Economic Forum and the ambiance successful her one-on-one gathering with Greek Justice Minister Giorgos Floridis were not affected by the “shots fired” by ministers and lawmakers of the ruling conservatives. After all, the gathering with Floridis had been scheduled astatine the inaugural of Kovesi, anterior to sending of the lawsuit files to Parliament.

“Some promises person been made. We came to spot what the situation is,” the top authoritative said meaningfully, upon entering the Ministry of Justice. Just a period earlier the Ministry of Justice had fixed the greenish airy to the reinforcement of the Greek bureau of the EPPO, to which three additional, full-time and exclusive prosecutors will beryllium added, bringing the total fig to 13.

This was a affirmative effect to Kovesi’s request, which had been submitted to Floridis successful a gathering successful October. Currently, successful summation to European Prosecutor of Greece Nikos Paschalis, who serves successful Luxembourg, the Greek bureau consists of 10 European Delegated Prosecutors (EDPs) from each three levels of the justness system. The caput of the EDP’s bureau successful Athens is Deputy Prosecutor of the Supreme Cour Eleni Karkampouna, while the different 10 are the prosecutors of the Courts of Appeals, Eugenia Kyvelou, Eleni Siskou, Kalliopi Dayanta and the prosecutors of the Courts of First Instance, Popi Papandreou, Chariklia Thanou, Dionysis Mouzakis, Antonia Georgiou, Thomai Emmanouilidou and Stavroula Dousi.

This fig will summation by three positions, which the Supreme Court has reportedly decided will beryllium filled by two prosecutors of the Court of First Instance and 1 of the Court of Appeals. The fig of prosecutors successful Greece is the highest per colonisation among the countries of the eurozone. For example, Spain with a colonisation of astir 50 million, has 7 prosecutors, arsenic does France with 68 cardinal people. Sweden and Portugal, which person the aforesaid colonisation arsenic Greece, person two and 7 prosecutors, respectively. On the different hand, Italy, with 60 cardinal people, has 21 prosecutors.

The timeline of the clash

The renewal of the term of bureau of three of the appointed EU prosecutors was the constituent of contention, with Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis straight accusing authoritative Popi Papandreou, who was managing the OPEKEPE lawsuit files together with Dionysis Mouzakis, of sending the files to Parliament to unafraid the renewal of her term of bureau astatine the EPPO. PASOK slammed the minister’s comments while the Association of Judges and Prosecutors issued statements of support for Papandreou.

The spark that lit the fuse was the announcement of the determination by the College of the EU Public Prosecutor’s Office successful November 2025 to renew the terms of prosecutors Papandreou, Mouzakis and Thanou, without seeking a anterior proposal from Greece’s Supreme Judicial Council.

“After 5 years, according to the regulation, if the authoritative already serving astatine the EPPO has done an fantabulous job, the assemblage renews his term. We renewed the term of bureau of two Greek prosecutors, on with much than 100 European Delegated Prosecutors successful 22 different member-states,” explained Kovesi during her beingness astatine the Delphi Forum.

Justice Minister Floridis was speedy to state that the organization process requires the submission of a petition to the Supreme Judicial Council, which is the lone competent assemblage for making such a decision. “The Supreme Judicial Council has been operating for 117 years, that is, since 1909. The Constitution stipulates that the Supreme Judicial Council beryllium consulted. A judicial serviceman cannot beryllium transferred, promoted, oregon seconded to a presumption unless the assembly decides so,” helium said.

A source told Kathimerini that Kovesi “changed tack” and proceeded to submit a petition soon earlier the deadline expired, requesting the renewal of the term of bureau of the three prosecutors already serving successful the institution. “She herself requested the renewal of their term. If she did not admit the competence of the council, why would she bash it? Also, the three funny parties applied [for the renewal], so they besides admit its competence,” Floridis said. The caput of the EPPO said an “administrative step” remained successful the process.

“In Greece, owed to the way the EPPO instrumentality was adopted, there is an administrative step: these prosecutors indispensable beryllium seconded again to proceed their work. It is logical for maine to nonstop a missive to pass [the council] astir our decision. I inquire them to implicit the procedures to finalize the decision,” Kovesi clarified.

In the meantime, the Supreme Court Prosecutor’s Office has proceeded to denote three positions astatine the Greek EPPO bureau for which – according to accusation – 9 applications person been submitted, including the three prosecutors presently serving successful the respective positions. These are sought-after posts, since the wage is astir three times higher than the 1 they would different person successful Greece, they request exclusive employment and there are nary transfers to different cities. The Supreme Judicial Council is expected to conscionable connected the contented successful mid-May, but the last accidental connected filling the positions lies with the EPPO. Next year, the three further positions will beryllium announced astatine the EPPO.

Who decides?

“The Supreme Judicial Council has the archetypal say, but the European Public Prosecutor’s Office has the last,” a judicial source told Kathimerini, pointing to what happened successful 2021 during the assignment of the archetypal 7 then-designated European prosecutors to the recently established institution.

In May 2021, during the instauration of the EPPO, the Supreme Judicial Council proceeded to prime 7 Greek prosecutors. These were Maria Mallouhou, Nikolaos Ornerakis, Popi Papandreou, Chariklia Thanou, Dionysis Mouzakis, arsenic well arsenic Odysseas Tsorbatzoglou and Amalia Bakaloni. The determination was unanimous (11-0) and marked the opening of a caller epoch successful European transgression cooperation.

However, σύντομα after, the equilibrium was upset when Kovesi approved 5 of the 7 candidates, excluding Tsorbatzoglou and Bakaloni, for whom she requested further grounds of their applicable experience. The request was legitimate, but it near a shadiness of uncertainty hanging implicit the Greek judiciary’s judgement.

In June 2021, the two prosecutors were invited to an oral interrogation to supply much information. They accepted, not without reservations, with Tzorbatzoglou stating successful a missive to the EPPO that “despite the information that I see my acquisition self-evident … I pass you that I judge the projected interview, during which I will beryllium blessed to conscionable you and your colleagues.” In September 2021, their candidacies were rejected, connected the grounds that they did not conscionable the eligibility criteria.

Greece, of course, is not the lone state whose candidates person been rejected. A occupation had arisen successful Italy, when the EPPO rejected authoritative Carmela Giuffrida for a akin position, connected the grounds that she “did not show that she has sufficient applicable applicable acquisition successful the investigation, prosecution and referral of persons liable for transgression offenses affecting the fiscal interests of the Union oregon successful wide for fiscal crimes.” The campaigner turned to the European Union’s General Court against the EPPO’s determination and was vindicated.

The EPPO has besides repeatedly rejected candidates projected by Bulgaria, while successful 2021 there were problems successful Slovenia, with reports claiming the authorities was “undermining the recently established European institution” when the country’s then premier curate Janez Jansa did not nominate his country’s two candidates.

‘Let them appeal’

What the Supreme Judicial Council will ultimately determine when it meets – which is expected to beryllium from May 11 to 15 – is anyone’s guess. During the property league she gave successful Athens, Kovesi did not adjacent want to remark connected the anticipation that the assembly would not hold with the renewal of the three Greek prosecutors’ terms.

“I afloat trust that the assembly will marque the close decision. They are independent, conscionable similar us. Who has an involvement successful removing these prosecutors, when they person done an fantabulous job?” she said, adding that if anyone believes that the EPPO has made the wrong choice, they should turn to the Court of Justice of the European Union.