Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

Human resources, equality and staff well-being

36. Observes the upward trend in the number of staff, increasing from 58 in 2020, to 122 in 2021, 217 by the end of 2022 and 238 by the end of 2023; is aware that, for 2023, the EPPO requested from the budgetary authority the suppression of 20 contract agent posts and the creation of 20 temporary agent posts, which was granted and implemented by the EPPO in the same year, resulting in the total number of staff remaining unchanged (248, out of with 171 TAs, 48 CAs and 29 SNEs), with a different allocation of posts (191 TAs, 28 CAs and 29 SNEs); points out, however, that following certain security weaknesses identified, the EPPO requested in May 2023 an amending budget and additional posts to enhance the physical, information and cyber security at central and decentralised levels and that out of 21 security posts identified, only eight posts (1 AD 9, 4 AD 6 and 3 AST 3) were granted in November 2023 for further security implementations which was finalised in 2024;

Change 26

Changed35.37. Points out that, in 2023, the occupancy rate at the central office was 92,97 %, of which 238 were members of staff compared to 256 budgeted posts; notes that out of 140 posts for the EDPs, 130 were on the post at the end of 2023 and another 10 started at the beginning of 2024, reaching 00100 % of occupancy rate; observes that the EPPO reinforced its capacity to run timely and transparent recruitment procedures by concluding 24 selection procedures in 2023, on-boarding 45 statutory staff members and 8 new European Prosecutors while 35 new EDPs were appointed;

38. Notes that, by December 2023, staff turnover (TAs and CAs) was at 4,62 %, recording a total of 11 resignations throughout the year, mainly justified by leaving to another institution (four cases) and for more senior positions offered in other Union institutions (seven cases); observes that the main underlying cause for this turnover is the specificity of the Luxembourg labour market, which has a very limited talent pool and small offer of specialised skills;

Change 27

Removed37. Understands that Luxembourg labour market is very competitive, that the financial conditions offered by the Union administration are not attractive compared to the local market (subject to diverse salary indexations throughout the year), and do not take due account of the high cost of living in Luxembourg, which has become even more difficult because of the inflation rate and increased cost of housing; notes that the EPPO cannot offer the career path for its staff members to become EU Officials and that its posts are therefore even less attractive than those in the four other Union institutions operating from Luxembourg; emphasises that this results either in a very limited number of applications for vacant posts or in the rejection by the selected candidates of the employment offer once received, due to the high cost of living;

Added39. Acknowledges the Commission’s efforts to satisfy the EPPO’s requests for additional posts; believes that the workload perspectives indicates that further resources are needed, especially considering the backlog and additional RRF-related cases and far-reaching VAT fraud and also considering that the administrative and central support functions are expected to grow, in line with the larger operational population; points out the risk of underestimating needs and capacities; remarks that the cost of interim staff and external service providers working intra-muros in 2023 reached EUR 4 235 242; encourages the Commission and the EPPO to find a sustainable long-term solution which allows for continuity, preserves confidentiality and retains built-in competences; appreciates that the EPPO’s additional operational needs are exhaustively integrated in the EPPO Single Programming Document 2024-2026 and in EPPO budget requests;

Removed38. Acknowledges the Commission’s efforts to satisfy EPPO requests for additional posts; believes that the workload perspectives indicates that further resources are needed, especially considering the backlog and additional RRF-related cases and far-reaching VAT fraud and also considering that the administrative and central support functions are expected to grow, in line with the larger operational population; points out the risk of underestimating needs and capacities; remarks that the cost of interim staff and external service providers working intra-muros in 2023 reached EUR 4 235 242; encourages the Commission and the EPPO to find a sustainable long-term solution which allows for continuity, preserves confidentiality and retains built-in competences; appreciates that the EPPO’s additional operational needs are exhaustively integrated in the EPPO Single Programming Document 2024-2026 and in EPPO budget requests;

Added40. Notes with concern that the Luxembourg labour market is very competitive, that the financial conditions offered by the Union administration are not attractive compared to the local market (subject to diverse salary indexations throughout the year), and do not take due account of the high cost of living in Luxembourg, which has become even more difficult because of the inflation rate and the increased cost of housing; notes that the EPPO cannot offer a career path for its members of staff to become Union Officials and that its posts are therefore even less attractive than those in the four other Union institutions operating from Luxembourg; emphasises that this results either in a very limited number of applications for vacant posts or in the rejection by the selected candidates of the employment offer once received, due to the high cost of living; calls on the EPPO and the Commission to implement measures that enhance the EPPO's attractiveness for highly skilled professionals with international experience, such as the housing allowance for lower-grade staff approved by the budgetary authority for 2025, as recommended by the High-Level Interinstitutional Group; notes the overrepresentation of certain nationalities among staff;

Change 28

Changed39.41. Notes that, at the end of 2023, geographical and gender balance was adequately pursued overall across the 238 members of staff (with 137 men and 101 women); maintains that the nationality breakdown of the EPPO population is constantly monitored by those hiring new members of staff, in seeking to ensure balance, especially, in light of the uneven distribution of applicants, and with Italy (34), Romania (33), Greece (26) and Belgium (24) being more represented across the 26 different nationalities; observes,encourages however,the thatEPPO genderto distributionadopt amongstproactive measures to ensure a balanced representation of nationalities among its staff, reflecting the diversity of the participating Member States; expresses concerns over the gender distribution among senior management positions (four tomen one)to remainsone suboptimalwoman) and asks tocalls takefor this aspectissue intoto considerationbe addressed in the framework of the overall diversity strategy; calls for the publication of an annual report, disaggregated by gender, nationality, and employment category, including concrete measures to close gaps in recruitment and career advancement and to monitor and address imbalances;

42. Is aware that the decision to implement a strategy on Diversity and Inclusion was made in 2023, with the development of the strategy to be executed in the course of 2024; encourages the EPPO to progress with its adoption and to periodically launch surveys among its staff, by promoting peer-review with other components of the Union’s anti-fraud architecture, such as Eurojust, OLAF and Europol; understands that the EPPO’s policy on Diversity & Inclusion will be based on the EU Agencies Network Charter on Diversity & Inclusion, adopted in March 2023, and believes that it will in general encourage diversity to make the workplace more attractive to candidates with specific needs; reiterates its request to the EPPO to adopt its Charter on Diversity and Inclusion without delay, in light of the increase in staff during 2023;

43. Remarks that, including TAs, CAs, SNEs and EDPs, 341 out of 396 staff (compared to 275 out of 332 in 2022) were deployed in investigative activities by the end of 2023 (that is 86,10 % compared to 82,83 % in 2022 and 86 % in 2021) while 55 members of staff (compared to 57 in 2022) were engaged in administrative support and control functions;

Change 29

Added44. Welcomes the appointment of 8 new European Prosecutors and 35 new EDP’s to the EPPO in 2023; reiterates that the EPPO can fulfil its role only if it enjoys full judicial independence, which flows from a merit-based and objective appointment procedure; encourages Member States to contribute to the full independence of the EPPO in that regard;

45. Maintains that the appointment of EDPs is a shared responsibility of the EPPO and the Member States; stresses that the appointment procedure must always comply with Article 17 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 and the principle of national procedural autonomy;

Change 30

Added46. Underlines the need for greater career development opportunities for EDPs to attract and retain experienced professionals; calls for improved employment conditions, including a clear career progression path and the standardisation of social security and pension arrangements across participating Member States, ensuring that national salary discrepancies do not deter qualified candidates from applying;

▸8 unchanged paragraphs

47. Appreciates that, in the course of 2023 and beginning 2024, the number of EDPs reached the initially foreseen number of 140; welcomes the decision to align the remuneration of EDPs with that of EU Officials of equivalent level of responsibility, rather than 80 % of the salary of EU Officials, as originally provided for; takes the view that this decision increases the attractiveness of the EDP’s function, paving the way to the recruitment of more experienced national prosecutors whose national salary was higher than the remuneration offered by the EPPO, and in the meantime reduces the administrative burden on the EPPO for the implementation of Article 16(1) of the Conditions of Employment of the EDPs, which provides that, in the case of total net remuneration lower than the national salary, a top-up amount is provided to ensure that the remuneration matches the previous level;

48. Underlines that the selection process for European Prosecutors and EDPs is not managed autonomously by the EPPO, because European Prosecutors are nominated by the Member States and then appointed by the European Council, whereas EDPs are nominated by the Member States and appointed by the College; maintains that the application of qualified candidates to the EDP positions could increase and the process could become more selective by adopting a clear career perspective and more favourable administrative discipline on social security and health insurance coverage; reiterates that the creation of a specific status for EDPs would be consistent with the nature of their judicial function and contribute on making those posts more appealing; calls on the Commission to propose adequate solutions in the event of amending Regulation (EU) 2017/1939;

49. Understands that each Member State is obliged (under Article 96(6) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1939) to put in place arrangements of legislative or administrative nature to maintain the affiliation and coverage of the EDPs, including any contributions to the relevant national social security, pension and insurance schemes, but a number of Member States have not yet fully complied with this obligation; therefore calls on the Commission to propose an effective solution to the social security and health insurance coverage gap of the EDPs at the revision of Regulation (EU) 2017/1939;

50. Notes that five complaints about the appointment of EDPs were introduced before the Court of Justice until 2023, of which three were closed (either dismissed or withdrawn) and one was dismissed, but an appeal is currently pending before the Court of Justice, and the last action for annulment of the decision of the College rejecting the nomination as EDP of a person nominated by a Member State was admitted in July 2024 on the grounds of a lack of sufficient reasoning in the College’s decision and an analysis is on-going on the manner in which the annulment is to be implemented; observes that there are no new complaints before the General Court concerning appointments to the EPPO;

51. Notes that the EPPO’s learning and development strategy was launched in 2023, aiming to promote a culture of continuous learning and facilitate the continuous assessment and adaptation of the staff’s evolving learning needs, together with the pilot learning needs analysis;

52. Notes, as regards measures and policies in place to safeguard the physical and mental well-being of staff, that in 2023 all measures were subject to revision and consultation by all involved stakeholders (the staff committee, members of staff in general, and management), seeking to find a balance between expectations and reality of the EPPO as a growing and rapidly changing organisation; observes that there the EPPO operates a flexitime scheme and a work-from-home standard scheme, which provides for one day of telework per week as a basis and a maximum of three days per week, plus extensions accepted in light of serious health or family constraints; remarks that current framework also includes 10 days’ work from outside the place of employment in a given year, to be used without link to other days of leave; believes that the EPPO’s current working conditions allow staff to take advantage of digital solutions by integrating a good level of autonomy in the management of working patterns, facilitating the conciliation of private and work life and promoting team morale and spirit; welcomes the on-going development of a policy on well-being which shall contain a section on well-being for staff benefiting from telework;

53. Highlights that, as suggested by Parliament, in the second semester of 2023 an open consultation on flexible working arrangements took place, and the decisions adopted in 2021 and 2022 underwent an ex post revision; notes that in consideration of the input of all stakeholders, on December 2023 the Administrative Director incorporated updates to the provisions; notes that changes included the enlargement of the notion of ‘place of telework’ (from 2 to 2,5 hours’ time/distance radius around the EPPO’s central office), and the introduction of hybrid working arrangements for interim agency staff; observes that no further change was adopted by College decisions, taking into account that the Administrative Director decisions had already enacted the conclusions of the staff consultations;

54. Notes that, following Parliament’s calls, a staff satisfaction (engagement) survey is planned in the first quarter of 2025; understands that the EPPO’s staff committee has also run a staff priorities survey, and encourages a more intensive dialogue to enhance the work-life conditions;

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Changed51.55. RemarksWelcomes that no case of burnout or harassment have been reported and that the number of long-term sick leave is very limited; welcomes the EPPO’s awareness of its duty to ensure promotion and preservation of health and wellbeing across staff, as well as the monitoring practices to earn such understanding which take into account untaken annual leave, the carry-over of annual leave and absences, the number of staff on long-term sick leave and the length of the absences; recalls the importance of establishing a clear and structured procedure for reporting cases of harassment by the European Chief Prosecutor and by the European Prosecutors, as well as its divulgation to all the staff;

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Changed52.56. Observes thatthat, in early 20232023, the EPPO’s central office carried out a traineeship pilot and the EPPO legal service sector hosted two trainees followed by two more in March and September 2023 for remunerated, in-person, five-month traineeships; notes that, based on the positive conclusions of the pilot, a traineeship policy was drafted and has been approved in 2024, followed by a first cycle of effective trainees the same year; welcomes the initiative to launch an experimental relationship-building with the local university and if successful, calls for its expansion to additional universities across the EU, which could offer interesting perspectives to further develop the early talent programmes for diversity; stresses that the high cost of living in Luxembourg poses a considerable obstacle for potential trainees; emphasizes that traineeships should be remunerated in compliance with the European Parliament's resolution of 14 June 2023 with recommendations to the Commission on quality traineeships in the Union (2020/2005(INL), which calls for all internships in the Union to be paid;

57. Welcomes the intense activity of the staff committee, the final adoption of its internal rules of procedure, the launch of the first staff committee open day, the launch of the first EPPO-wide staff survey, the participation of its representatives in the selection procedures, the retroactive revision of all general implementing provisions adopted by the EPPO before the establishment of the staff committee, the submission of input on internal reorganisation, working time and hybrid working, implementing rules and the improvement of working conditions;

58. Understands that the EPPO is progressing towards the finalisation of a business continuity plan, which is included in the Union’s administration management standards, and urges the EPPO to adopt it without further delay;

Ethical framework and transparency

Change 33

Changed55.59. Understands that the EPPO’s ethical framework is being gradually built up; observes that the core values of that ethical framework are clearly set out in codes of conduct, which outline the standards of behaviour expected of employees at all levels; also observes that the ethical framework depends on the EPPO’s code of good administrative behaviour, its anti-fraud strategy and a training programme on ethics, which encompasses harassment, whistleblowing, the prevention of conflicts of interest and other ethical issues; notesregrets that themembers EPPO’sof staff isof the EPPO are not required to attend that training programme;programme, which would ensure a consistent understanding and application of the EPPO’s codes of conduct; calls on the EPPO to remedy the situation;

60. Notes the EPPO’s engagement in awareness-raising actions among staff about ethical framework and related matters; encourages the EPPO to make mandatory the attendance of such sessions by European Prosecutors and EDPs at their taking over of duties; believes that internal dialogue needs to be intensified;

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Changed57.61. Notes that no effective cases of conflict of interest were detected in 2023; is aware that, while a structured conflict of interest policy is being developed,that dedicated conflict of interest declaration forms have been established and conflict of interest rules are in force for the members of College, the EDPs, the staff members of staff of the operational units, and other sensitive posts; welcomes the ongoing development of a structured conflict of interest policy and calls on the EPPO to finalise its adoption; calls for the implementation of a mandatory annual refreshment of an ethics and integrity training course for all EPPO personnel;

Change 35

Added62. Urges the EPPO to enhance its internal integrity framework by mandating public disclosure of all financial interests and external activities of senior officials, including members of the College; calls for a periodic audit of these disclosures to identify and mitigate potential risks of undue influence;

63. Understands that the EPPO seeks to prevent revolving doors in particular by endorsing the strict application of the provisions of the Staff Regulations, which are set out in all contracts of the EPPO, including ad hoc exit forms that indicate the obligations that apply after termination of engagement; welcomes in this regard the adoption, in 2023, of the Guidelines for the EPPO Staff on Outside Activities and Assignments, which apply to activities that are not considered to relate to hobbies of leisure activities outside the remit of the EPPO;

Change 36

Removed59. Recalls that the EPPO is to adopt a dedicated whistleblowing and anti-retaliation procedure to integrate the implementing rules to the Staff Regulations adopted by the College (College Decision 2021/077 laying down guidelines on whistleblowing applicable within the EPPO) and to accompany Article 45.12 of the EPPO Financial Rules (establishing the actions to be undertaken in the circumstances); welcomes the initiative of intensifying internal communication on the first network of confidential counsellors and on the anti-harassment provisions and to all National European Delegated Prosecutors’ Assistants (NEDPAs) on whistleblowing mechanism for breaches against the EPPO mandate;

Added64. Calls for the introduction of a more robust revolving door policy, including an extended cooling-off period of at least two years for senior EPPO officials before they can engage in private-sector employment related to EPPO investigations; requests that the EPPO conducts an annual review of compliance with these post-employment restrictions;

Added65. Calls the EPPO to adopt a dedicated whistleblowing and anti-retaliation procedure to integrate the implementing rules to the Staff Regulations adopted by the College (College Decision 2021/077 laying down guidelines on whistleblowing applicable within the EPPO) and to accompany Article 45.12 of the EPPO Financial Rules (establishing the actions to be undertaken in the circumstances) in order to ensure a safe and protected workplace; welcomes the initiative of intensifying internal communication on the first network of confidential counsellors and on the anti-harassment provisions and to all National European Delegated Prosecutors’ Assistants (NEDPAs) on whistleblowing mechanism for breaches against the EPPO mandate;

▸12 unchanged paragraphs

Digitalisation, Cybersecurity and data protection

66. Deplores the situation of the EPPO in the area of its IT autonomy, which is adversely affected by the decision of the Commission’s Directorate-General for Digital Services (‘DG Digital Services’, formerly DIGIT) to discontinue the provision of digital workplace services; points out that EPPO IT autonomy requires additional human and financial resources which so far have not been granted because of the limitation imposed by the overall available budgetary resources in the concerned lines; regrets that, on grounds of the risks to its operational activities, the EPPO had to establish its own digital service capacity to accommodate the additional human resources that it was granted in light of the participation of Poland and Sweden;

67. Notes that the EPPO’s initial approach was to prioritise resources on the setting and working of essential digital services linked to its operational activities, such as its case-management system, while acknowledging that the EPPO’s digital services, which, at least in part, diverge from those of the Commission, would have needed, in the mid-term, a tailored approach; observes that the interruption of service by the Commission occurs in the crucial phase of the consolidation of the EPPO’s establishment;

68. Understands that, in 2023, the EPPO’s IT, Security and Corporate Services unit continued the implementation of two major programmes: the IT Autonomy Programme, to offer a complete catalogue of administrative IT services fully managed internally, and the EPPO’s CMS programme, to further develop the digitalisation of the organisation in its core business area; acknowledges that in 2023 the EPPO continued to prepare to gradually transition from a digital workplace provided by DG Digital Services to an EPPO-owned and operated solution; is aware that the resources needed to implement this change, although were included in the EPPO’s budget request for 2023, were not granted by the budgetary authority; notes that following DG Digital Service’s announcement, the EPPO started negotiation to seek a solution which has not yet been achieved;

69. Appreciates that Commission has temporarily extended the provision of IT services until June 2025 but maintains that the outsourcing of those services is a suboptimal solution in the current situation; understands that not only security and confidentiality-related arguments, but also purely financial aspects, suggest to reconsider the decision, because the outsourcing would appear much more costly than the in-house solution, and the adoption of the latter, after DG Digital Services cease providing their services, would be managed by the EPPO; stresses that, to implement the preferable in-house solution, the complex administrative aspects, the EPPO lack of experience and the de-centralised configuration of the EPPO with EDPs and NEDPAs in several locations across the Union, will require a more relevant budget and a lengthy transition period;

70. Reiterates its call on DG Digital Services to not interrupt its support to the EPPO until such a time as the EPPO has its own reliable IT system; deems it to be essential to avoid loss of data and to keep the EPPO fully operational in the transition between IT services providers; maintains that clear communication and operational coordination on the transition is to be ensured involving the highest decision-making levels of the Commission and the EPPO; asks the Commission and the EPPO to agree upon a gradual passage of competences for a smooth and continuous transition in the period after the extension, which could be extended beyond June 2025;

71. Observes that EPPO’s requests for permanent additional posts to fill the gap stemming from the discontinuation of DG Digital Services were refused, in January 2023, when EPPO requested 45 establishment plan, and at the end of February 2024, when a request for an amending budget 2024 for EUR 2,98 million and 37 established plan posts was also rejected; notes that the solution of recruiting intra-muros contractors could be a part of an interim solution to address DG Digital Service’s discontinuation, but while that approach would offer immediate operational continuity, it should not be conceived as a definitive solution for the EPPO, taking into account the extremely sensitive nature of its activities and the need to ensure continuity and reliability of its digital services, as well as the highest level of security of its IT infrastructure, systems and equipment; shares the view that the rejection of the EPPO’s budgetary requests is indicative of differences in the assessment of the problem, which has an adverse impact on the EPPO’s operational activities and represents a potential reputational risk for the Union in the case it results in weakening the EPPO’s operational capacity;

72. Understands that each EDP has to use any national and the EPPO’s CMS, which are different data bases governed by different access rights; believes that this situation increases the daily complexity in the data management; is also aware that to make it possible the processing and exchange of information between the central services of the EDPs and the EPPO, all the casefiles need to be digitalised by the EDPs using national digital tools and in compliance with national law; appreciates, in this regard, the formal creation of the NEDPA status in the official organisation chart which allows granting access to NEDPAs (staff of the national office) directly to the EPPO’s CMS, like that unburdening the EDPs of administrative tasks and creating the basis for more accuracy and consistency of case data between the two case-management systems; takes the view that the way towards integration between the EPPO’s CMS and national case-management systems would be facilitated by appropriate revision of regulation and that these steps would increase the effectiveness of EPPO investigations; notes, however, that such integration could be primarily a matter of compatible technological solutions used in the different Member States and linked to the actual level of digitalisation of judiciary proceedings in those Member States; observes that the burden of the inherent costs is currently shared, with the national budget covering the costs of the equipment needed for interaction with the national case-management systems, and the EPPO budget covering hardware and the setting of a digital working environment that is secured to the same standard as EPPO central office staff and which is considered part of the operational communication costs provided for by Regulation (EU) 2017/1939;

73. Understands that interoperability is material to achieving efficient data exchange and cooperation and that in order to adopt minimum common data exchange agreements and the implementation of judicial interoperability tools, an e-CODEX EPPO Use Case Project, initiated in 2023, involved several workshops with the e-CODEX Consortium to align on technical and functional requirements; regrets that, after several workshops with e-CODEX Consortium, the project was paused to allow the transition to the new e-CODEX programme manager, eu-LISA, and due to lack of EPPO resources with expertise in this area; calls on the Commission to act as a facilitator for further progressing in the project and to factor also those actions in the EPPO’s budgetary needs estimate;

74. Is aware of the increased threat to the EPPO’s IT structural integrity stemming from the aggressiveness of organised crime, combatted by the EPPO, and resulting in the need to step up physical and digital security; notes that in 2023 the EPPO focused on enhancing its security governance; appreciates the EPPO decision to create a dedicated unit to address cyber and physical security; observes that the EPPO prepared a framework including new processes, roles and responsibilities and policies to increase the security of the digital systems used for the handling of operational and administrative data; understands that several risk assessments were carried out to assess the security framework of the digital systems which suggested the implementation of additional technical and governance measures to enhance the EPPO’s security environment; remarks that the policy framework was improved in the circumstance, with a security strategy and global information security policy proposed in 2023 and formally approved and adopted in 2024;

75. Observes that the EPPO completed, in 2023, the set-up of security contact points in all participating Member States to enhance cooperation on security matters for staff and EPPO offices located in those Member States; welcomes the service level agreement is in place with CERT-EU that provides support and monitoring for specific services for incident response-related matters; underlines that the deployed system to assess risk and to report incidents is well structured and training is provided effectively; appreciates the external assessment performed for physical security whose findings translated in a roadmap for improvement by the host country;

76. Praises the significant progress made in 2023 towards the implementation of a backup data centre and the deployment of an associated disaster recovery scenario; appreciates, in that regard, the EPPO’s development of its own case-management ecosystem the components of which are all hosted in the EPPO data centre and managed by the EPPO’s staff, guaranteeing the EPPO control, retention and ownership of systems and data processed;

Change 37

Changed71.77. Acknowledges the EPPO’s need for up-to-date equipment, cybersecurityequipment and IT systems to deal with increasingly complicated crimes frequently involving digital elements and digital methodologies; stresses as well the urgency of developing a strong cybersecurity framework, given the growing risks posed by highly tech-savvy criminal networks and potential foreign interferences, through cyberattacks; supports the EPPO in its request for resources to be allocated to protecting its cybersecurity;cybersecurity and calls for the swift implementation of a robust cybersecurity strategy to safeguard EPPO’s operations and data integrity;

Change 38

Changed72.78. Stresses that the nature of the EPPO’s activities entails the need for specific oversight and dedicated attention to the protection of personal data; takes the view that the EPPO and the EDPS should engage in a continuous dialogue to ensure the usability of the data for the investigation and prosecution and, at the same time, ensure respect for the protection of personal data; understands that the requirements relating to data protection handling stems from Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 and from Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 and that that those requirements are complemented and implemented by College decisions, adopted after consulting the EDPS; appreciates the decision to provide mandatory training for all members of staff, including dedicated data protection training prodromicessential to the access to the EPPO’s CMS;

Buildings and security

Change 39

Changed73.79. Observes thatthat, thanks to the lease agreement by which Luxembourg authorities provide rent free the building currently hosting the EPPO’s headquarters (the TOB building),building) on a rent-free basis, the costs are limited to a service charge fee of EUR 716 724 per year; notes thatthat, in 20232023, EUR 248 103 werewas paid to the same Luxembourg authorities for security installations in the two additional floors (9 and 10) delivered to the EPPO in Q1 2023;

80. Welcomes, having regard to physical security, the allocation - with amending budget 2023 and the budget 2024 - of the resources needed to have a proportionate capacity to deliver enhanced security services (21 additional posts to enhance its security capability) and the EPPO’s efforts towards the continuous improvement and efficiency alignment of the physical security processes; maintains the proper functioning of the EPPO implies that prosecutors and staff have to be protected to be able to pursue their mission to its full extent, without threats, influence or pressure;

Environment and sustainability

Change 40

Changed75.81. Believes that the Luxembourg authorities providing the EPPO’s headquarters should consider their sustainability and energetic performance,performance; wherecalls possibleon bythe undertakingEPPO to engage in discussions with the Luxembourg authorities to explore specific actions for renewableimproving energythe suchenvironmental asfootprint of its premises, including the installation of renewable energy sources such as solar panels, the introduction of CO2 offsetting measures and adoptingimplementation of the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme to evaluate, report, improveenhance organisations’ environmental performance and to save energy; invitescalls on the Commission to explorefacilitate ifdialogue between the dialogueEPPO withand the local host canauthorities beto facilitatedensure withthe aoptimal viewuse toof pursuingresources and the optimisationalignment of resourceEPPO’s usage;operations with the Union’s sustainability;

82. Notes that the EPPO’s central office is integrated in the Luxembourg network of free public transport making it easily reachable through low environmental impact means, at no cost for staff and visitors and that the central office underground car park provides a dedicated zone for bike parking; understands that exchanges are ongoing concerning the installation of charging stations for e-vehicles in the same underground car park;

Interinstitutional cooperation

Change 41

Changed77.83. Maintains that the EPPO’s role as one of thea major operational componentscomponent of the Union’s anti-fraud architecture can be effectively pursued only with intense cooperation with and coordinationsupport withfrom its partners and stakeholders; encouragesreiterates that the EPPO tocan continuefulfil its effortsrole only if it enjoys full judicial independence; encourages Member States to contribute to the full independence of the EPPO in that regard and encourages the EPPO to continue its communication and coordination efforts with the several partners,partners whose action has been designed to be reciprocallyreciprocal and complementary;

Change 42

Changed78.84. Welcomes the initiatives launched by OLAF and the EPPO to intensify the operationaland dialoguestreamline andtheir developoperational trustcooperation and share knowledge amongst the involved actors; appreciates the first international conference allowing exchange of views between EPPO prosecutors and OLAF investigators, hosted by Parliament in 2024, and believes it to be an example for the way forward;2024; emphasises that the revision of the regulatory frameworks of OLAF and EPPO provides the opportunity to reconsider many aspects of their working together in the light of the experiences earned in those first years of EPPO operational activity, and having specific regard to the opening of complementary OLAF investigations and administrative investigations in support of the EPPO; stressesEPPO, thatas thewell dialogueas andOLAF’s cooperationincreased needrole toin bedetecting notand onlyreporting endorsedfraud asto athe spontaneousEPPO initiative,in butsupport madeof morethe effectiverecovery byof the settingdamage ofto anthe inter-institutional,Union well-disciplinedbudget; forumbelieves whichthat isthe todialogue createand cooperation within the opportunityantifraud ofarchitecture mutualcould andbe synergisticmade collaborationmore ineffective by the executionsetting theof EPPO’sa andregular OLAF’sinter-institutional mandates,forum with a view to optimising the efficiency and efficacy of the available resources in action;

Change 43

Removed79. Expects that the working group established with the Commission, and the meetings on the implementation of the Commission-EPPO Working Arrangement, will ensure that EPPO notifications for the purpose of administrative recovery, as provided for by Article 103(2), point (c), of Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 will duly and effectively enable the Commission to maximise recovery to the Union budget, while complying with the confidentiality and proper conduct of the investigative actions; stresses that, in this specific regard, no feedback has been yet provided by either party, preventing the legislators from earning a comprehensive understanding of the underlying issues and urges the EPPO and the Commission to adopt an agreed upon form of reporting to Parliament; understands that this could require appropriate development of the EPPO’s CMS, and asks the Commission to prioritise the allocation of resources to the EPPO to meet that need;

Added85. Welcomes the initiatives launched by OLAF and the EPPO to intensify operational dialogue and improve coordination; underlines the importance of full and effective data-sharing between the EPPO, OLAF, Eurojust, and Europol to ensure seamless cooperation in the fight against cross-border fraud; calls for the establishment of a joint working group to oversee data integration and case management efficiency among these bodies;