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New prosecutor's office joins EU 'Justice League'

Headed by Romanian anti-corruption chief, Laura Codruta Kovesi

01 June, 12:21
(ANSA-AFP) - BRUSSELS, JUN 1 - A newly created EU prosecutor's office started work on Tuesday, in time to throw legal-eagle scrutiny on hundreds of billions of euros of Covid recovery spending about to sprayed across the bloc. The Luxembourg-based European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO), an independent outfit headed by a Romanian anti-corruption chief, Laura Codruta Kovesi, has the job of cracking down on fraudulent use of EU funds. Kovesi called the EPPO's launch "a historic moment" and said: "Our target (is) economic and financial criminality. Make no mistake, this is the most common threat to any democratic society." Her team was meant to have started late last year but a delay in the 22 participating EU member states nominating prosecutors to the body pushed back its launch. Even now, Slovenia and Finland have yet to designate their officials.

The EU commissioner for transparency, Vera Jourova, called the office "a unique body" that filled a gap in the bloc's crackdown on fraud. (ANSA-AFP).

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