Author: Maria Giulia Mariotti
Committee: Cybersecurity Strategic Committee
Date: 02/04/2026
1. EPPO’s Annual Report 2025: a concrete analysis; 2. The cyber perspective: new kind of threats; 3. A non-stop commitment as a step forward in the integration.
1. EPPO’s Annual Report 2025: a concrete analysis
The EPPO recently published the 2025 Annual Report, offering a detailed analysis of the efforts made and the results achieved by the Office over the last year.
The Annual Report provides a picture that deserves attention well beyond the strictly criminal sphere. The figures speak for themselves: 3,602 active investigations by the end of 2025, 2,030 new cases opened this year, and estimated damages exceeding 67 billion euros.
The most significant data concerns VAT and customs fraud, which, although representing a minority of cases, accounts for the bulk of the estimated economic damage, confirming the presence of structured, transnational criminal networks capable of operating with increasing sophistication within the legal economy[1].
As shown in the Annual Report, while the cross-border cases remain a stable proportion, the increase in crime reports (6% more than in 2024) has been mainly caused by an increase of reports from both private parties and national authorities[2].
This improvement is an important step forward in the awareness of the EPPO’s work, since it proves that the expectations of the EU citizens towards this institution are increasing, as well as the trust.
Overall, the numbers provided by the report indicate the results of an impressive amount of work carried by the EPPO institution and of the prosecutors working all around the EU territory. Moreover, an important focus is now being directed towards organized crime groups, for they cause substantial damage to both the European and national budgets, and their impact has been underestimated for far too long. The process is still growing, but as for now, the results show that the first transnational prosecution office is already making history, with more to come[3].
2. The cyber perspective: new kind of threats
For those who observe these phenomena from a cyber perspective, the EPPO report offers a clear indication: the protection of the Union’s financial interests no longer relies solely on administrative controls or traditional accounting audits, but requires the ability to interpret financial data in an integrated manner, combining digital architectures, information interoperability, and fraud pattern analysis. The fact that cases related to the Recovery and Resilience Facility have reached the number of 512 shows how large flows of financing linked to innovation and transformation can become a target for criminal networks that can quickly adapt to new public tools. The technological aspect also plays a direct role. The most recent EPPO investigations have shown how public funds earmarked for innovation, development, and transition can be exposed to fraudulent conduct, document manipulation, and fictitious corporate structures. This is where the cyber dimension meets the economic-financial dimension. Security today also depends on the ability to monitor resource allocation processes, verify data quality, promptly detect anomalies, and build more advanced prevention models. The EPPO 2025 report suggests precisely this: the fight against European fraud requires an increasingly integrated approach, in which law, technology, intelligence, and risk analysis are called upon to operate within a single strategic framework[4].
For example, in 2025 some of the EPPO’s investigations led towards some non-procurement frauds, that consisted in granting financial incentives to start-ups or spin-offs to develop artificial intelligence, blockchain, or robotic process-automations. The EPPO exposed the fact that many documents regarding the project execution (such as rental agreements and the staff’s wages) were falsified, and false invoices were submitted for IT consultancy services[5].
The year 2025 has been crucial for the EPPO’s investigation, and many steps forward have been made in raising awareness of the impact of this Institution. But more is to come. In fact, in the beginning of January 2026 an important investigation led by the EPPO in Paris resulted in multiple searches in French Guiana, due to a probe into suspected fraud related to the building of an Eu-funded tourism infrastructure in the West part of the overseas French department. The European Regional Development Fund overseas program supports initiatives for regional and business development related to the EU. The investigation has the support of several judicial police unites and also cyber investigators, with the facts leading towards subsidy fraud; some individuals have already been arrested (although presumed innocent until proven guilty by the competent French courts of law), and the process is still ongoing[6].
3. A non-stop commitment as a step forward in the integration
If we compare the 2025 Annual Report to the previous one, it is clear that the estimated damage has triplicated from 2024, proving that not only the crimes have increased, but also the impact and efficiency of the EPPO in exposing criminal activities: in 2024, the estimated damage consisted in €24.8 billion[7], while the 2025 Annual Report indicates a €67.27 billion of such damage.
As the workload carried by the EPPO is continuing to grow, the year 2026 is already shaping up to be a demanding one for transnational investigations, with the arising of new challenges, together with the increasing need for an even stronger commitment, particularly on behalf of the Member States, which play a fundamental role in cooperating to ensure the efficiency of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
[1] EPPO Annual Report 2025 and official EPPO 2025 press releases.
[2] EPPO Annual Report 2025, 7
[3] Laura Codruța Kövesi, European Chief Prosecutor, EPPO Annual Report 2025, 5
[4] Professor Bacini Marco, Chair of the Cybersecurity Strategic Committee, Steppo Centre of Excellence
[5] EPPO Annual Report 2025, 71
[6] European Public Prosecutor’s Office, Official Website, News
[7] EPPO Annual Report 2024, 12