Luxembourg’s justice minister, Félix Braz, convened an informal meeting on the margins of the JHA Council meeting in Brussels yesterday, bringing together his Maltese, French, Spanish, Slovak and Belgian colleagues in order to promote a push to enhance cooperation on the European Public Prosecutors’ Office.
At a European Council meeting on 9 March this year, member states examined the draft regulation establishing a European Public Prosecutor's Office without reaching a unanimous agreement on this project for judicial cooperation in criminal matters.
Its mission would be to seek, prosecute and bring to trial those responsible for infringements of the financial interests of the EU while at the same time guaranteeing better protection of the taxpayer's money against fraud and passive and active bribery.
For Minister Braz, enhanced cooperation would reduce the fragmentation of national efforts to protect the EU’s budget. He confirmed that Luxembourg will be a signatory of the notification letter in order to allow the establishment of a coherent criminal prosecution system with as many member states as possible working in enhanced cooperation.
With regard to the financing of this new body, Minister Braz stressed that the objective of protecting the EU budget as a whole could have justified full coverage of all expenditure for the European Public Prosecutor's Office in the general budget of the European Union.
However, since the achievement of this objective by a unanimous decision in the Council is unlikely, he supports an annual adjustment mechanism such as that practiced for Frontex.
Image: Félix Braz with Austrian minister of justice, Wolfgang Brandstetter, at the JHA Council meeting yesterday. © Ministry of Justice
