Protection of the financial interests of the European Union using criminal law

The European Parliament approved the resolution drafted by Mrs. Theato (EPP/ED, D) containing its recommendations to the Commission on introducing protection under criminal law of the union's financial interests. It calls on the Commission to: - submit to it by 30.06.2000 legislative proposals enabling a comprehensive legal and judicial framework for the protection of the Union's financial interests to be established and - include in its proposals a financial statement setting out the amounts chargeable to Section III, Part A of the budget, with a view to the necessary adjustments being made to the 2000 budget. The EP points out that the Convention on the protection of the European Communities' financial interests, which was drawn up by the Council Act of 26 July 1995, must be ratified by all the Member States before it can enter into force, and calls, therefore, on the Member States which have not yet done so to ratify it as at the earliest opportunity. The Parliament calls on the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) to include in its work programme a discussion on the establishment of a European Public Prosecutor's Office with responsibility for all offences affecting the Union's financial interests. It also draws the IGC's attention to the fact that the discussions on the powers, independence and status of such a Public Prosecutor's Office, and the applicable procedure and guiding principles, should be based on the proposals set out in the Corpus Juris and the comparative criminal law study which followed it, as well as the draft set out in the report of the Committee of Independent Experts.�