THE SCOPE OF COMPETENCE OF THE EUROPEAN PUBLIC PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE

INTRODUCTION Twenty years after the first appearance of the idea in the so-called Corpus Juris, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office was finally established by the Council on the 12th October 2017.2 The adoption of the Council Regulation was preceded by a long, intense and cumbersome negotiation procedure. The Proposal on the establishment the European Public Prosecutor’s Office was issued by the European Commission in July 2013 based on Article 86 TFEU.3 According to this legal basis, the Council, by means of regulations adopted in accordance with a special legislative procedure, may establish a European Public Prosecutor’s Office from Eurojust in order to combat crimes affecting the financial interests of the Union. Shortly after the issuance of the Commission’s Proposal, 14 chambers of national parliaments from 11 Member States issued reasoned opinions based on Protocol No 2 to the Treaties on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality4, requesting the Commission to review the Proposal.5 In its answer, the Commission concluded that its Proposal complies with the principle of subsidiarity and maintained it. However, the Commission promised to take due account of the reasoned opinions of the national Parliaments during the legislative process.6 After that, as