“EPPO” to Tamp Down on Europe-wide Corruption

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As head of the new Luxembourg-based European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), Laura Codruta Kovesi is poised to lead a Europe-wide effort to curtail losses due to corruption, which she estimates amount to EUR 60 billion each year. From 2015-18, she led similar efforts in her native Romania, where she succeeded in putting numerous high-profile politicians in prison on corruption charges.

Her oversight comes at an important time, just before the EU is set to distribute stimulus and regular budget funding that totals almost EUR 2 trillion to member states, potentially broadening the opportunity for fraud.

Not all of them are on board, with only 22 out of 27 EU countries signing on to EPPO (Hungary, Poland, Sweden, Denmark and Ireland are not participants). And Slovenia is holding things up by not instating its participating prosecutors.

Source: Bloomberg