Discharge 2024: European Public Prosecutors Office
The European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Administrative Director of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) discharge in respect of the implementation of the EPPO’s budget for the financial year 2024.
In its resolution, adopted by 454 votes to 161, with 29 abstentions, Parliament made the following observations:
Budgetary and financial management
The overall final budget allocated to the EPPO for 2024 was EUR 76 382 368, which was a substantial increase from the EUR 65.9 million allocated in 2023 and the EUR 51.2 million allocated in 2022.
The initial 2024 budget (amounting to EUR 71 888 321) approved by the Union’s budgetary authority was 24 % less than that requested by the EPPO in its estimates of revenue and expenditure for 2024 even if higher by 9 % when compared with the previous year.
Parliament acknowledged that 2024 was a difficult year for the EPPO, because it had to deal with an increase in its workload in the 22 participating Member States, to manage the enlargement to include Poland and Sweden and, simultaneously, to achieve IT autonomy from the Commission.
The budgetary implementation rate for the financial year 2024 was 98.5 %, over the expected performance indicator of 95 % and in line with the previous years (99.6 % in 2023 and 98.1 % in 2022).
Internal management, performance, and internal control
The internal control systems in force are effective. The EPPO continued its efforts to set in place a system to monitor efficiency gains and cost savings, and it launched a review of the strategic and operational planning and monitoring processes (to increase the ability to contribute to EPPO activities’ strategic focus and to achieve sustained high implementation or absorption rate of available resources) and established a mid-term human resources strategic planning, to allow for the increased fulfilment of the establishment plan and addressing staffing gaps through hiring or professional growth.
The resolution stressed the sharp and continuous increase in crime reports submitted to the EPPO, that reached 6 547 by 31 December 2024 (56 % more than in 2023 when they were 4 187), resulting in the opening of 1 504 investigations (almost 10 % more than in 2023, when EPPO opened 1 371 investigations representing the 58 % more than in 2022). In addition, on 31 December 2024, the EPPO had 2 666 active investigations, (around 38 % more than in 2023 when they were 1 927) and that the percentage of cross-border cases, concerning several countries, was stable (29 % in 2024 and 28 % in 2023).
Parliament expressed its concern about the number of investigations opened regarding the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). By the end of 2024, the EPPO was handling 311 active cases related to the NextGenerationEU, out of which 307 stemmed from the RRF (233 at the end of 2023), corresponding to approximately 17 % of all active expenditure fraud investigations and for an estimated amount of EUR 2.8 billion in damages to the Union’s financial interests. Members called for a reinforced coordination framework involving the EPPO, the Commission and the Member States, aimed at strengthening RRF fraud investigation and prevention, ensuring systematic follow-up of EPPO investigations and improving the exchange of relevant information.
Other observations
Parliament noted that:
- in 2024, the upward trend in the number of staff has been maintained reaching a total of 258 at the end of 2024 (from 58 in 2020, to 122 in 2021, 217 in 2022 and 238 by the end of 2023) with an increase a little higher than 9.5%;
- adequate gender balance in management positions was reached in 2024;
- the EPPO’s workload perspectives will require further resources. The constantly increasing number of RRF-related cases and VAT fraud, and the complexity of the investigations involving organised crime cross-border operations, will also bring increasing workload;
- the EPPO’s ethical framework is being gradually built up. The limited human resources didn't allow for its completion in 2024;
- that transparency is crucial in the EPPO’s interactions with external actors;
- its calls on the Commission to reconsider the decision of the Commission’s DG Digital Services to discontinue the provision of digital workplace services to the EPPO have not been followed-up. It appreciated the Commission’s decision to temporarily extend the provision of IT services until June 2025, to facilitate the transition, but deplored that the final result is a situation whose financial viability is questionable at best, and which is performance-wise suboptimal;
- that the lease agreement by which Luxembourg authorities provide rent-free the building currently hosting the EPPO’s headquarters was not amended in 2024 and that the EPPO paid the same annual service charge fee of EUR 716 724 in 2024 as in 2023, without additional costs;
- Hungary is the sole remaining Member State that has not yet joined the EPPO. Parliament strongly urged the Hungarian government to join the EPPO without further delay. The continued non-participation can only be interpreted as a deliberate attempt to shield corruption and misuse of Union funds from independent European scrutiny;
- the level of the EPPO’s resources that are devoted to communication are limited, and that, in view of the need to establish the EPPO’s digital autonomy, management of the EPPO website has been brought in-house, requiring additional
resources, after DG Digital Services cease providing that service. The budget for public communication and promotional activities in 2024 was EUR 235 382 and that it was all consumed, in particular to acquire media monitoring licenses and for other communication initiatives and translation of publications.