Lisbon, Sept. 12, 2025 (Lusa) - The European Public Prosecutor, who has just one more year in office, hopes to have laid solid foundations for her successor, whom she expects to maintain the line of independence that she says is the hallmark of the institution.
"For me, independence is a red line. No one can cross it," said the head of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) in an interview with Lusa, taking stock of her term in office, which ends in October 2026, and looking ahead to the future of the institution she helped set up.
Laura Kövesi, who has faced strong political pressure due to highly sensitive investigations - such as those involving MEPs in alleged financial fraud, or the purchase of Covid-19 vaccines by the European Commission, which put its own president Ursula Von der Leyen at the forefront of the investigation - is proud of the independence of the body and all its prosecutors, who ‘do not accept interference’ in their work.
He is also proud to have disproved some perceptions.
"Sometimes I had the impression that people thought the EPPO would be a small office that would investigate from time to time. But as soon as I was appointed and we got things up and running, I knew that wasn't going to happen. I knew that EPPO would be independent, strong and efficient. After the first few years in business, we've already proved our added value. And that can't be changed," she said.
‘I would say that the EPPO is not an institution, it's a spirit, you know?’ she added, on what she also hopes will be the institutional legacy for her successor, even in a climate of increasing polarisation in the European Union and the growth of the far right, political facts that she refused to comment on in her strict role as prosecutor.
"I hope that my successor will continue in the same vein. That means that he or she has enough courage and strength to do so," she said.
Downplaying the pressures, Kövesi said that the real difficulties were first getting EPPO up and running and defining its model, and then dealing with ‘the continent of crime’ that the institution encountered.
"If everyone thought that financial crime was a niche crime, they were wrong. It's the centre of crime and it's becoming increasingly violent," he said.
In addition to the lack of resources - because prosecutors can no longer work solely on their ‘enthusiasm and courage’ - Laura Kövesi also regrets the lack of institutional collaboration between European Union organisations, particularly OLAF, in the fight against fraud, but rejects any spirit of competition: ‘Competition only with criminals, not between us.’
The EPPO's future may also include new powers, namely to investigate violations of EU sanctions against countries, companies or individuals, which are now considered criminal offences, but this still depends on the will of the legislator.
‘It's something we say we can do, we're prepared to do and we're really determined to do,’ said Kövesi.
Investigations into sanctions violations related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine or, even if it comes to it, sanctions on Israel for the war and genocide in Gaza, would thus fall under the EPPO's remit.
The political divisions that these matters raise within the European Union don't worry Kövesi, who, as a prosecutor, looks at the issue from a law enforcement point of view.
"For me, it's black or white. I look at it mainly from a judicial point of view, because in a democratic system, justice serves the citizen. In a tyrannical system, justice serves the tyrant or a specific group of people. We have to choose a side. I hope everyone chooses the right side in this. [I hope everyone chooses the rule of law and justice that serves the citizens. That's why I'm taking a stand," she said, pointing to her bow tie in the colours of Ukraine.
The prosecutor, who many rumours associate with a future in politics, completely rejects this scenario and says that after the EPPO she sees herself remaining connected to the judicial world and education.
"I know exactly what I'm not going to do. I'm not going into politics," she said.
The EPPO currently has 24 member states, with Poland and Sweden joining in 2024.
The body, which functions as an independent and highly specialised public prosecutor's office, became active on 1 June 2021 and has the power to investigate, prosecute, bring charges and uphold them in the investigation and trial against the perpetrators of criminal offences against the financial interests of the European Union (e.g. fraud, corruption or cross-border VAT fraud of more than €10 million).
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