Today, during a joint meeting of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice, and Home Affairs (LIBE) and the Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT), hearings were held for the candidates for the position of head of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO). On behalf of the ECR Group, PiS MEP Mariusz Kamiński asked questions of the candidates from Italy, Spain, Austria, and Germany.
“The fight against corruption is one of the most important areas where the European Public Prosecutor’s Office’s activities should be strengthened and improved,” said Kamiński, noting that according to the EPPO’s latest report, only 3–4 percent of ongoing cases involve corruption offenses.
The MEP also emphasized that recent events—from the arrest, at the EPPO’s request, of former EU High Representative Federica Mogherini, to the corruption charges brought against former Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders, to the still not fully clarified circumstances of the Qatar scandal—demonstrate the scale and systemic nature of the problem. As he noted, “all of this proves that the European Union has a serious and growing problem with corruption at the highest levels.”
Kamiński posed a series of questions to the four candidates asking whether the fight against corruption would be their priority. “What specific ideas do you have for more effectively combating corruption at the highest levels of EU institutions?” he asked, pointing, among other things, to the possibility of introducing public, comprehensive financial disclosure statements for senior EU officials, submitted under criminal liability.
He also raised the issue of the candidates’ independence and asked whether they had consulted with politicians or senior officials before submitting their candidacies.
Today’s hearings of the candidates represent one of the key stages in the process of selecting the head of the EPPO. The opinions expressed during the debate—particularly regarding the fight against corruption and independence—will be significant for the EU institutions’ future work and for the European Council’s final decision.
