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= EPPO-Regulation
= Relevant iRoP and other annotations
1. When the European Delegated Prosecutor submits a draft decision proposing to bring a case to judgment, the Permanent Chamber shall, following the procedures set out in Article 35, decide on this draft within 21 days. The Permanent Chamber cannot decide to dismiss the case if a draft decision proposes bringing a case to judgment.
Article 55 | Delegation of powers to conclude cases
1. The Permanent Chamber may decide to delegate its decision-making power in accordance with Article 10(7) of the Regulation at any stage before the termination of the investigation. The decision may not be taken by written procedure. The decision shall be registered in the Case Management System and notified to the European Chief Prosecutor. If the European Chief Prosecutor is a member of the relevant Permanent Chamber, the Deputy European Chief Prosecutors shall be notified about the decision.
2. The request for review of this decision in accordance with Article 10(7), second subparagraph of the Regulation shall be communicated forthwith by the Case Management System to the supervising European Prosecutor and the handling European Delegated Prosecutor, who shall refrain thereafter from any act which may impair the effectiveness of the review.
3. The matter shall be decided by the Permanent Chamber without undue delay. The European Chief Prosecutor or, as the case may be, the Deputy European Chief Prosecutor, who has submitted the request, may attend the meeting of the Permanent Chamber on this matter. The College shall be notified of the request and of the outcome of the review procedure.
Article 56 | Termination of the investigation
(…)
4. The chair of the Permanent Chamber shall decide the date when the report and the draft decision shall be discussed. When the European Delegated Prosecutor submits a draft decision proposing to bring a case to judgement, it shall be discussed at least 5 days before the expiration of the time limit prescribed by Article 36 (1) of the Regulation.
5. When the European Delegated Prosecutor submits a draft decision proposing to bring a case to judgement or to apply a simplified prosecution procedure, the decision of the Permanent Chamber cannot be adopted by written procedure.
6. The Permanent Chamber may adopt or amend the decision proposed by the European Delegated Prosecutor, may adopt a different decision or may instruct the European Delegated Prosecutor to continue the investigation, indicating the specific activities to be undertaken, in accordance with Article 46. If it deems necessary, it may also conduct its own review in line with Article 35(2) of the Regulation.
(…)
See on the EPPO’s guidelines for the delegation of decision making competences to the supervising European Prosecutor: Annex II of College Decision 023/2020
2. Where the Permanent Chamber does not take a decision within the 21-day time limits, the decision proposed by the European Delegated Prosecutor shall be deemed to be accepted.
3. Where more than one Member State has jurisdiction over the case, the Permanent Chamber shall in principle decide to bring the case to prosecution in the Member State of the handling European Delegated Prosecutor. However, the Permanent Chamber may, taking into account the report provided in accordance with Article 35(1), decide to bring the case to prosecution in a different Member State, if there are sufficiently justified grounds to do so, taking into account the criteria set out in Article 26(4) and (5), and instruct a European Delegated Prosecutor of that Member State accordingly.
Article 60 | Representation in court
1. In proceedings before national courts in line with Article 36 of the Regulation, the EPPO shall in principle be represented by a European Delegated Prosecutor.
2. The European Delegated Prosecutor shall draw up a report containing any significant developments of the proceedings and shall update it periodically. The report shall be registered in the Case Management System and all updates shall be notified to the members of the Permanent Chamber.
3. The Permanent Chamber may issue instructions to the European Delegated Prosecutor or the European Prosecutor in accordance with Article 10(5) of the Regulation.
4. By derogation from paragraph 1 above, the EPPO may also be represented by the supervising European Prosecutor in accordance with Article 28(4) of the Regulation. Paragraphs 2 and 3 above of the present Article shall apply.
4. Before deciding to bring a case to judgment, the competent Permanent Chamber may, on the proposal of the handling European Delegated Prosecutor, decide to join several cases, where investigations have been conducted by different European Delegated Prosecutors against the same person(s) with a view to prosecuting these cases in the courts of a single Member State which, in accordance with its law, has jurisdiction for each of those cases.
5. Once a decision on the Member State in which the prosecution shall be brought has been taken, the competent national court within that Member State shall be determined on the basis of national law.
6. Where necessary for the purposes of recovery, administrative follow-up or monitoring, the Central Office shall notify the competent national authorities, interested persons and the relevant institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the Union of the decision to prosecute.
Article 2 | Language arrangements
(…)
2. The communications, acts or decisions of the EPPO addressed to institutions, bodies, offices or agencies of the European Union shall be drafted in the working language for the operational and administrative activities. French shall be used along with English in the relations with the Court of Justice of the European Union.
3. Communication with persons involved in criminal proceedings, such as suspected or accused persons, victims and witnesses, or with other third parties, shall be made in the language required in accordance with the applicable national rules of criminal procedural law and, where applicable, in accordance with the relevant EU or international legal instruments for judicial cooperation in criminal matters. When necessary, the communication shall be accompanied by a translation in a language understood by the addressee.
(…)
7. Where, following a judgment of the Court, the prosecution has to decide whether to lodge an appeal, the European Delegated Prosecutor shall submit a report including a draft decision to the competent Permanent Chamber and await its instructions. Should it be impossible to await those instructions within the deadline set by national law, the European Delegated Prosecutor shall be entitled to lodge the appeal without prior instructions from the Permanent Chamber, and shall subsequently submit the report to the Permanent Chamber without delay. The Permanent Chamber shall then instruct the European Delegated Prosecutor either to maintain or withdraw the appeal. The same procedure shall apply when, in the course of the court proceedings and in accordance with applicable national law, the handling European Delegated Prosecutor would take a position that would lead to the dismissal of the case.
See on the functions and procedures of the Permanent Chambers in this respect: Annex to College Decision 027/2022, further amended by College Decision 028/2024, in particular its section III.6
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Recitals 31, 33 of the EPPO Regulation
(31) The functions of prosecutor in competent courts apply until the conclusion of the proceedings, which is understood to mean the final determination of the question whether the suspect or accused person has committed the offence, including, where applicable, sentencing and the resolution of any legal action or remedies available until that decision has become definitive.
(33) Notwithstanding their special status under this Regulation, the European Delegated Prosecutors should, during their term of office, also be members of the prosecution service of their Member State, namely a prosecutor or member of the judiciary, and should be granted by their Member State at least the same powers as national prosecutors.
Recitals 67, 68 of the EPPO Regulation
(67) In order to best safeguard the rights of the defendant, in principle a suspect or accused person should only face one investigation or prosecution by the EPPO. Where an offence has been committed by several persons, the EPPO should in principle initiate only one case and conduct investigations in respect of all suspect or accused persons jointly.
(68) Where several European Delegated Prosecutors have opened investigations in respect of the same criminal offence, the Permanent Chamber should where appropriate merge such investigations. The Permanent Chamber may decide not to merge such proceedings or decide to subsequently split such proceedings if this is in the interest of the efficiency of investigations, for example if proceedings against one suspect or accused person could be terminated at an earlier stage, whereas proceedings against other suspect or accused persons would still have to be continued, or if splitting the case could shorten the period of pre-trial detention of one of the suspects. Where different Permanent Chambers are in charge of the cases to be merged, the internal rules of procedure of the EPPO should determine the appropriate competence and procedure. Where the Permanent Chamber decides to split a case, its competence for the resulting cases should be maintained.
Recitals 78, 79, 87(2) Sentence 3 of the EPPO Regulation
(78) This Regulation requires the EPPO to exercise the functions of a prosecutor, which includes taking decisions on a suspect or accused person’s indictment and the choice of the Member State whose courts will be competent to hear the prosecution. The decision whether to indict the suspect or accused person should in principle be made by the competent Permanent Chamber on the basis of a draft decision by the European Delegated Prosecutor, so that there is a common prosecution policy. The Permanent Chamber should be entitled to take any decision within 21 days of receiving the draft decision, including requesting further evidence, before deciding to bring a case to judgment, except a decision to dismiss a case where the European Delegated Prosecutor has proposed to bring the case to judgment.
(79) The Member State whose courts will be competent to hear the prosecution should be chosen by the competent Permanent Chamber on the basis of a set of criteria laid down in this Regulation. The Permanent Chamber should take its decision on the basis of a report and a draft decision by the handling European Delegated Prosecutor, which should be transmitted to the Permanent Chamber by the supervising European Prosecutor with, if necessary, his/her own assessment. The supervising European Prosecutor should retain all the powers to give specific instructions to the European Delegated Prosecutor provided for in this Regulation.
(87) (…)
(…) Procedural acts that relate to the choice of the Member State whose courts will be competent to hear the prosecution, which is to be determined on the basis of the criteria laid down in this Regulation, are intended to produce legal effects vis-à-vis third parties and should therefore be subject to judicial review by national courts, at the latest at the trial stage.
Recital 78 of the EPPO Regulation
(78) This Regulation requires the EPPO to exercise the functions of a prosecutor, which includes taking decisions on a suspect or accused person’s indictment and the choice of the Member State whose courts will be competent to hear the prosecution. The decision whether to indict the suspect or accused person should in principle be made by the competent Permanent Chamber on the basis of a draft decision by the European Delegated Prosecutor, so that there is a common prosecution policy. The Permanent Chamber should be entitled to take any decision within 21 days of receiving the draft decision, including requesting further evidence, before deciding to bring a case to judgment, except a decision to dismiss a case where the European Delegated Prosecutor has proposed to bring the case to judgment.
Access to information by the EPPO | Article 43
Access to the case management system | Article 46
Administrative Director Status, appointment | Article 18
Administrative Director Responsiilities | Article 19
Administrative personal data | Article 48
Annual Reports of the EPPO | Article 7
Appointment and dismissal – Administrative Director | Article 18
Appointment and dismissal – European Delegated Prosecutors | Article 17
Appointment and dismissal – Deputy European Chief Prosecutors | Article 15
Appointment and dismissal – European Chief Prosecutors | Article 14
Appointment and dismissal – European Prosecutors | Article 16
Authorized access to operational personal data within the EPPO | Article 76
Automated individual decision-making, including profiling (data protection) | Article 56
Basic principles of the activities of the EPPO | Article 5
Budget | Article 91
Case files of the EPPO | Article 45
Case management system | Article 44
College | Article 9
Communication and modalities for exercising the rights of the data subject | Article 57
Communication of a personal data breach to the data subject | Article 75
Conducting the investigation | Article 28
Confidentiality and professional secrecy | Article 108
Cooperation between the EDPS and national supervisory authorities | Article 87
Cross-border investigations | Article 31
Data protection by design and by default (data protection) | Article 67
Data protection impact assessment | Article 71
Data Protection Officer of the EPPO – Designation of the data protection officer | Article 77
Data Protection Officer of the EPPO – Position of the data protection officer | Article 78
Data Protection Officer of the EPPO – Tasks of the data protection officer | Article 79
Definitions | Article 2
Delegated Commision Acts | Article 115
Deputy European Chief Prosecutors – Status and functions | Article 11
Deputy European Chief Prosecutors – Appointment and dismissal | Article 15
Dismissal of the case | Article 39
Disposition of confiscated assets | Article 38
Distinction between different categories of data subjects | Article 51
Distinction between personal data and verification of quality of personal data | Article 52
Enforcement of assigned measures | Article 32
Entry into force of the Regulation | Article 120
Establishment of the EPPO | Article 3
Establishment of the budget | Article 92
European Chief Prosecutor – Status and functions | Article 11
European Chief Prosecutor – Conditions of employment | Article 14
European Chief Prosecutor – Conditions of employment | Article 96(1)
European Data Protection Supervisor – Cooperation with the EDPS | Article 70
European Data Protection Supervisor – Prior consultation of the EDPS | Article 72
European Data Protection Supervisor – Notification of a personal data breach to the EDPS | Article 74
European Delegated Prosecutors – Status and functions | Article 13
European Delegated Prosecutors – Appointment and dismissal | Article 17
European Delegated Prosecutors – Conditions of employment | Article 96(6)
European Ombudsman | Article 112
European Prosecutors – Status and functions | Article 12
European Prosecutors – Appointment and dismissal | Article 16
European Prosecutors – Conditions of employment | Article 96(1)
Evidence | Article 37
Exercise of rights by the data subject and verification by the European Data Protection Supervisor | Article 62
Exercise of the competence of the EPPO | Article 25
Financial actors | Article 90
Financial rules | Article 95
Staff provisions – general principles | Article 96
General regime of liability | Article 113
Implementation of the budget | Article 93
Implementing rules and programme documents | Article 114
Independence and accountability | Article 6
Information to be made available or given to the data subject | Article 58
Initiation of investigations and allocation of competences within the EPPO | Article 26
Internal rules of procedure of the EPPO | Article 21
Joint controllers (data protection) | Article 64
Judicial review | Article 42
Language arrangements | Article 107
Legal status and operating conditions | Article 106
Lifting priviliges or immunities | Article 29
Limitations of the right of access (data protection) | Article 60
Logging in respect of automated processing (data protection) | Article 69
Material competence of the EPPO | Article 22
Notifications by Member States | Article 117
Obligations of the EPPO (data protection) | Article 63
OLAF and the Court of Auditors | Article 110
Permanent Chambers | Article 10
Pre-trial arrest and cross-border surrender | Article 33
Presentation of accounts and discharge | Article 94
Principles relating to processing of personal data | Article 47
Processing of operational personal data | Article 49
Processing of spedial categories of operational personal data | Article 55
Processing under the authority of the controller or processor | Article 66
Processor (data protection) | Article 65
Professional secrecy of the EDPS | Article 86
Prosecution before national Courts | Article 36
Provisional administrative arrangements of the EPPO | Article 20
Records of categories of processing activities (data protection) | Article 68
Referrals and transfers of proceedings to the national authorities | Article 34
Relations of the EPPO with its partners – Common provisions | Article 99
Relations of the EPPO with its partners – Eurojust | Article 100
Relations of the EPPO with its partners – Europol | Article 102
Relations of the EPPO with its partners – Non-participating Member States | Article 105
Relations of the EPPO with its partners – OLAF | Article 101
Relations of the EPPO with its partners – Institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the Union | Article 103
Relations of the EPPO with its partners – Third countries and international organisation | Article 104
Reporting, registration and verification of information | Article 24
Review clause | Article 119
Review of the rules on data protection | Article 118
Right of evocation | Article 27
Right to judicial review against the EDPS | Article 89
Right to lodge a compliant with the EDPS | Article 88
Right to rectification or erasure of operational personal data and restriction of data processing | Article 61
Rights of access by the data subject | Article 59
Rules on investigation measures and other measures | Article 30
Rules on protection of sensitive non-classified and classified information | Article 111
Scope of the rights of the suspects and accused persons | Article 41
Seconded experts and other staff | Article 98
Security of processing of operational personal data | Article 73
Simplified prosecution procedures | Article 40
Specific processing conditions (data protection) | Article 53
Structure of the EPPO | Article 8
Subject matter | Article 1
Supervision by the European Data Protection Supervisor | Article 85
Tasks of the EPPO | Article 4
Temporary agents and contract agents | Article 98
Termination of the investigation | Article 35
Territorial and personal competence of the EPPO | Article 23
Time-limits for the storage of operational personal data | Article 50
Transfers of operational personal data – General principles for transfers of operational personal data | Article 80
Transfers of operational personal data – Transfers on the basis of an adequacy decision | Article 81
Transfers of operational personal data – Transfers subject to appropriate safeguards | Article 82
Transfers of operational personal data – Derogations for specific situations | Article 83
Transfers of operational personal data – Transfers to recipients established in third countries | Article 84
Transmission of operational personal data to institutions, bodes, offices and agencies of the Union | Article 54
Transparency | Article 109
Urgency procedure in case of Delegated Commission Acts | Article 116
Chapter I … Subject Matter and definitions
Chapter II … Establishment, tasks and basic principles of the EPPO
Article 5 … Basic principles of the activities
Article 6 … Independence and accountability
Chapter III … Status, structure and organisation of the EPPO
Section 1 … Status and structure of the EPPO
Article 8 … Structure of the EPPO
Article 10 … The Permanent Chambers
Article 11 … The European Chief Prosecutor and the Deputy European Chief Prosecutors
Article 12 … The European Prosecutors
Article 13 … The European Delegated Prosecutors
Section 2 … Appointment and dismissal of the members of the EPPO
Article 14 … Appointment and dismissal of the European Chief Prosecutor
Article 15 … Appointment and dismissal of the Deputy European Chief Prosecutors
Article 16 … Appointment and dismissal of the European Prosecutors
Article 17 … Appointment and dismissal of the European Delegated Prosecutors
Article 18 … Status of the Administrative Director
Article 19 … Responsibilities of the Administrative Director
Article 20 … Provisional administrative arrangements of the EPPO
Section 3 … Internal rules of procedure of the EPPO
Article 21 … Internal rules of procedure of the EPPO
Chapter IV … Competence and exercise of the competence of the EPPO
Section 1 … Competence of the EPPO
Article 22 … Material competence of the EPPO
Article 23 … Territorial and personal competence of the EPPO
Section 2 … Exercise of the competence of the EPPO
Article 24 … Reporting, registration and verification of information
Article 25 … Exercise of the competence of the EPPO
Chapter V … Rules of procedure on investigations, investigation measures, prosecution and alternatives to prosecution
Section 1 … Rules on investigations
Article 26 … Initiation of investigations and allocation of competences within the EPPO
Article 27 … Right of evocation
Article 28 … Conducting the investigation
Article 29 … Lifting priviliges or immunities
Section 2 … Rules on investigation measures and other measures
Article 30 … Investigation measures and other measures
Article 31 … Cross-boder investigations
Article 32 … Enforcement of assigned measures
Article 33 … Pre-trial arrest and cross-border surrender
Section 3 … Rules on prosecution
Article 34 … Referrals and transfers of proceedings to the national authorities
Article 35 … Termination of the investigation
Article 36 … Prosecution before national Courts
Article 38 … Disposition of confiscated assets
Section 4 … Rules on alternatives to prosecution
Article 39 … Dismissal of the case
Section 5 … Rules on simplified procedures
Article 40 … Simplified prosecution procedures
Chapter VI … Procedural safeguards
Article 41 … Scope of the rights of the suspects and accused persons
Chapter VII … Processing of information
Article 43 … Access to information by the EPPO
Article 44 … Case management system
Article 45 … Case files of the EPPO
Article 46 … Access to the case management system
Chapter VIII … Data protection
[Section 1 … Principles]
Article 47 … Principles relating to processing of personal data
Article 48 … Administrative personal data
Article 49 … Processing of operational personal data
Article 50 … Time-limits for the storage of operational personal data
Article 51 … Distinction between different categories of data subjects
Article 52 … Distinction between personal data and verification of quality of personal data
Article 53 … Specific processing conditions
Article 55 … Processing of spedial categories of operational personal data
Article 56 … Automated individual decision-making, including profiling
[Section 2 … Rights of the data subject]
Article 57 … Communication and modalities for exercising the rights of the data subject
Article 58 … Information to be made availiable or given to the data subject
Article 59 … Rights of access by the data subject
Article 60 … Limitations of the right of access
[Section 3 … Controller and processor]
Article 63 … Obligations of the EPPO
Article 64 … Joint controllers
Article 66 … Processing under the authority of the controller or processor
Article 67 … Data protection by design and by default
Article 68 … Records of categories of processing activities
Article 69 … Logging in respect of automated processing
Article 70 … Cooperation with the European Data Protection Supervisor
Article 71 … Data protection impact assessment
Article 72 … Prior consultation of the European Data Protection Supervisor
[Section 4 … Security of personal data]
Article 73 … Security of processing of operational personal data
Article 74 … Notification of a personal data breach to the European Data Protection Supervisor
Article 75 … Communication of a personal data breach to the data subject
[Section 5 … Data Protection Officer]
Article 77 … Designation of the Data Protection Officer
Article 78 … Position of the Data Protection Officer
Article 79 … Tasks of the data protection officer
[Section 6 … Transfers of personal data to third countries or international organisations]
Article 80 … General principles for transfers of operational personal data
Article 81 … Transfers on the basis of an adequacy decision
Article 82 … Transfers subject to appropriate safeguards
Article 83 … Derogations for specific situations
Article 84 … Transfers of operational personal data to recipients established in third countries
[Section 7 … Tasks of the European Data Protection Supervisor]
Article 85 … Supervision by the European Data Protection Supervisor
Article 86 … Professional secrecy of the European Data Protection Supervisor
Article 88 … Right to lodge a compliant with the European Data Protection Supervisor
Article 89 … Right to judicial review against the European Data Protection Supervisor
Chapter IX … Financial and staff provisions
Section 1 … Financial provisions
Article 92 … Establishment of the budget
Article 93 … Implementation of the budget
Article 94 … Presentation of accounts and discharge
Section 2 … Staff provisions
Article 96 … General provisions
Article 97 … Temporary agents and contract agents
Article 98 … Seconded experts and other staff
Chapter X … Provisions on the relations of the EPPO with its partners
Article 99 … Common provisions
Article 100 … Relations with Eurojust
Article 101 … Relations with OLAF
Article 102 … Relations with Europol
Article 103 … Relations with other institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the Union
Article 104 … Relations with third countries and international organisations
Chapter XI … General provisions
Article 106 … Legal status and operating conditions
Article 107 … Language arrangements
Article 108 … Confidentiality and professional secrecy
Article 110 … OLAF and the Court of Auditors
Article 111 … Rules on protection of sensitive non-classified and classified information
Article 112 … Administrative inquiries
Article 113 … General regime of liability
Article 114 … Implementing rules and programme documents
Article 115 … Exercise of delegation
Article 116 … Urgency procedure