The material scope of competence of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office: Lex uncerta and unpraevia?

Abstract

Article 86 TFEU provides a clear legal basis to establish the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and to regulate its investigative and prosecutorial powers. Article 86 TFEU also refers to a limited substantive mandate, the protection of the financial interest of the Union, or to an extended mandate (based on an unanimous decision in the Council) including all serious crimes having a cross-border dimension. However, the Article remains silent on the precise scope of this material scope of competence. The 2013 Commission’s EPPO proposal does not contain specific elements of the offences or penalties and refers to the proposal for a directive on the criminal law protection of the financial interest of the EU. The result will be that the material competence of the EPPO will at the end depend upon the patchwork of implementation provisions in every single Member State. In this article is assessed if this solution can comply with the substantive legality principle in criminal matters, being a human right under the ECHR and the Charter. The author makes a plea for an alternative solution and to regulate the material competence in the EPPO regulation itself.