European Chief Prosecutor Laura Kovesi warned the government that a proposed legislative amendment aimed at accelerating investigations involving MPs undermined the protection of EU funds given to Greece and raised “serious concerns” over the rule of law.
In correspondence made public Wednesday evening, Kovesi told Justice Minister Giorgos Floridis that the draft measure – which would assign certain criminal cases involving MPs to a special investigative judge at the court of appeal with a four-month timeline – was “clearly incompatible” with the rules governing the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and with Greek law.
The proposal, Kovesi wrote, would improperly shift jurisdiction over cases falling under the EPPO’s competence away from its delegated prosecutors and into a national judicial procedure, potentially creating unequal treatment for individuals under investigation for offenses affecting EU funds.
Last year, the EPPO commenced a string of probes into the fraud of EU farm subsidies by farmers and state officials in Greece.
“This is further creating a differentiation of treatment for a specific category of persons being investigated for offences falling under the EPPO competence, which is not permitted under applicable Union law,” Kovesi said in the letter, which was sent Monday.
