Monday

11th Dec 2023

EU prosecutor: Malta doesn't know who's fighting EU fraud

  • Malta has no open cases against EU fraud or corruption, posing questions on whether there is a real drive to tackle the crimes (Photo: Berit Watkin)
Listen to article

The head of the EU's financial crime watchdog, Laura Codruţa Kövesi says Malta is paying lip service in its efforts to crack down on EU fraud and corruption.

Speaking to European lawmakers on Wednesday (20 April), Kövesi said national authorities on the island-nation were unable to respond to simple questions.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

"I visited Malta. I had meetings with the national authorities and after two days it was very difficult for me to identify the institution that is responsible for detecting crimes," she said.

"All of them said that 'it's not me. It's them.' And when I visited them, they said 'it's not us'," she said.

Kövesi heads the Luxembourg-based European Public Prosecutor's Office. The office is tasked to crack down on VAT fraud and other financial crimes dealing with EU money.

Launched last June, it has so far seized some €147 million in assets, made arrests, and currently has 515 active investigations totalling an estimated €5.4 billion in damages.

Aside from Ireland, Hungary, Poland and Sweden, every EU state has signed up to the Luxembourg-based office to help fight the crimes. Denmark has a special opt-out.

But Malta stands apart because it is the only participating member that has not opened any investigation.

Luxembourg also has only one, posing questions on the quality and drive of national authorities to alert Kövesi's office of possible crimes.

"You cannot find it if you don't search, especially revenue fraud," said Kövesi.

This stands in contrast to the 576 total cases opened across all other participating member states, including 120 in Italy alone.

She is now demanding a revision of the rules that underpin the European Public Prosecutor's Office.

She says the rule changes are needed to guarantee the independence of her delegated prosecutors stationed in the respective member states.

The rules also need to be tweaked to simplify investigations in order to better tackle cross border probes, she said.

While her office is deemed competent to tackle tobacco smuggling, for instance, in one member state, it is not in another.

"It undermines our capacity to fight in particular the more serious criminal groups," she said.

Poland

Poland also stands out. With 23 cases, it has the most anti-fraud investigations among the member states that refuse to sign up to the Kovesi's office.

"Unfortunately, with Poland we have the highest number of the cases that are involved the non participating member states," she said.

Kövesi says they signed a working arrangement with Hungary and are soon hoping for similar agreements with Denmark and Ireland.

But Poland flat out refuses, she said, due to national legislation.

'There are no clean countries', EU chief prosecutor says

"For the first time, the offenses against the financial interest of the EU will be investigated in an integrated strategic manner by a prosecutorial body with supranational jurisdiction," EU chief prosecutor Laura Kövesi said.

Interview

EU prosecutor opened almost 1,000 investigations in first year

The EU's first chief prosecutor's office opened 929 investigations, handed down 28 indictments, secured four convictions and froze €259m in assets — over four times the size of its annual budget — in its first year of operation.

Top EU prosecutor wants elite corps of specialised investigators

Europe's top prosecutor Laura Kovesi wants to create an elite corps of highly-specialised financial fraud investigators. The demand came in Kovesi's introduction to the annual report published by the Luxembourg-based European Public Prosector's Office.

Analysis

How Wilders' Dutch extremism goes way beyond Islamophobia

Without losing sight of his pervasive Islamophobia, it is essential to note Geert Wilders' far-right extremism extends to other issues that could drastically alter the nature of Dutch politics — and end its often constructive role in advancing EU policies.

Latest News

  1. How Moldova is trying to control tuberculosis
  2. Many problems to solve in Dubai — honesty about them is good
  3. Sudanese fleeing violence find no haven in Egypt or EU
  4. How should EU reform the humanitarian aid system?
  5. EU suggests visa-bans on Israeli settlers, following US example
  6. EU ministers prepare for all-night fiscal debate
  7. Spain's Nadia Calviño backed to be EIB's first female chief
  8. Is there hope for the EU and eurozone?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us