The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs adopted an interim report by Salvatore IACOLINO (EPP, IT) on the proposal for a Council regulation on the establishment of the European Public Prosecutors Office.
The aim of this report in line with the provisions of the Lisbon Treaty is to draw up a number of suggestions and provide specific details of a political nature relating to the text proposed by the Commission, which may be carefully considered by the Council.
The Committee on Budgetary Control, exercising its prerogatives as an associated committee under Parliaments Rule 50 of the Rules of Procedure, also gave an opinion on the report.
Members considered that the European Parliament should be extensively involved in the discussion and in the framing of the proposal under consideration, and that the co-legislator will carefully consider the remarks made and solutions identified. They called on the Council to take due account of the following recommendations:
The report recommended that the Council should: take account of the fact that all activities of the European Public Prosecutors Office should ensure a high protection of the rights of defence; (ii) comply with the ne bis in idem principle should be ensured; (iii) ensure that the organisational model of the EPPO should ensure at central level the appropriate skills, experience and knowledge of the legal systems of the Member States.
Lastly, the Council is called upon to clarify the competence of each existing body in charge of protecting the Unions financial interests; points out that it is of the utmost importance that the relationship between the EPPO and other existing bodies, such as Eurojust and OLAF, be further defined and clearly demarcated.