Author: Migliore Francesca Benedetta
Committee: Connect Committee
Date: 12/05/2024
EPPO is an organ of the European Union, known as the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. It derives its legal basis from Article 86 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and is subject to the same general principles as the ECJ, Court of Justice of European Union.
The working language of EPPO is English, facilitating communication regardless of the nationality of the persons or Member States involved. EPPO collaborates with Eurojust (the European Union Agency for Criminal Judicial Cooperation), OLAF (the European Anti-Fraud Office) and Europol (the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation). It specializes in prosecuting offenses against the EU’s financial interests (PIF offences), such as fraud, corruption, money laundering and embezzlement. It this context, it is important for citizens to be aware of EPPO and its operations. Therefore, the establishment of STEPPO, one of the EU Jean Monnet Center of excellence, was important. STEPPO spreads information through blogs and other projects run by 22 committees.
These, alongside with the Steering Committee and the Management Board, ensure that STEPPO program runs smoothly by managing and coordinating activities. STEPPO plays a vital role in
disseminating information about EPPO to citizens. To achieve this, the Connect Subcommittee is responsible for sharing significant doctrinal and jurisprudential contributions regarding EPPO and promoting events featuring prominent guest on popular social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook and Spotify. Spotify uploads episodes and interviews related to EPPO, which aims to investigate, prosecute and judge crimes that impact on the financial interests of the European Union and the human rights of all citizens. STEPPO’s social media presence enables citizens to gain a deeper understanding of crimes affecting the EU’s financial interests.
Thanks to social media, we have contributed to spreading greater awareness about the work of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, also thanks to the collaboration with illustrious figures of the national and European panorama, such as Roberto Saviano, who manage to discuss topics that EPPO deals with, reaching a greater number of citizens. Thus, Roberto Saviano’s collaboration with the center of excellence has highlighted the importance of spreading these issues at the social level. Roberto Saviano is now a subject expert of European Union Law at the University of Milano-Bicocca. His aim is therefore to develop collective awareness of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and to spread the importance of always having the rule of law at heart.
On Monday, 20th March, as part of the course, we had the honor of hosting the current European Public Prosecutor, Dr. Danilo Ceccarelli, with whom we discussed the innovative role of the European Public Prosecutor, as well as the practical functions of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office – a significant novelty in the EU landscape. However, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office investigates crimes of a financial nature that harm our interests as citizens of the European Union. For this reason, any one of us can turn to EPPO to make a complaint via an online form in a simple and affordable way. It is important that citizens can and should report the offences dealt with by the EPPO.
Dissemination is crucial, as underscored by the results received by the Connect Subcommittee:
Links:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/steppo_eulaw/
Linkedin: https://it.linkedin.com/in/steppo-eu-law-73406322a
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/SteppoEUlaw/100077921448675/?paipv=0&eav=AfYDqUP9bs-vWNgYw0sQH2MvLB6x_UU5EsBBZMlrGyfzLhXRQubnHqm8bdHpQaPqFE&_rdr
X: https://twitter.com/steppo_eulaw
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@steppoeulaw
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3GtkfnNBcLylbQnBolbR00?si=n95oA-VeRyS8FNQ2iLOeHw
Website: https://www.steppo-eulaw.com