CHAPTER II

ESTABLISHMENT, TASKS AND BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE EPPO

Establishment
Article 3
1
The EPPO is hereby established as a body of the Union.
2
The EPPO shall have legal personality.
3
The EPPO shall cooperate with Eurojust and rely on its support in accordance with Article 100.

Tasks
Article 4
The EPPO shall be responsible for investigating, prosecuting and bringing to judgment the perpetrators of, and accomplices to, criminal offences affecting the financial interests of the Union which are provided for in Directive (EU) 2017/1371 and determined by this Regulation. In that respect the EPPO shall undertake investigations, and carry out acts of prosecution and exercise the functions of prosecutor in the competent courts of the Member States, until the case has been finally disposed of.

Basic principles of the activities
Article 5
1
The EPPO shall ensure that its activities respect the rights enshrined in the Charter.
2
The EPPO shall be bound by the principles of rule of law and proportionality in all its activities.
3
The investigations and prosecutions on behalf of the EPPO shall be governed by this Regulation. National law shall apply to the extent that a matter is not regulated by this Regulation. Unless otherwise specified in this Regulation, the applicable national law shall be the law of the Member State whose European Delegated Prosecutor is handling the case in accordance with Article 13(1). Where a matter is governed by both national law and this Regulation, the latter shall prevail.
4
The EPPO shall conduct its investigations in an impartial manner and shall seek all relevant evidence whether inculpatory or exculpatory.
5
The EPPO shall open and conduct investigations without undue delay.
6
The competent national authorities shall actively assist and support the investigations and prosecutions of the EPPO. Any action, policy or procedure under this Regulation shall be guided by the principle of sincere cooperation.

Independence and accountability
Article 6
1
The EPPO shall be independent. The European Chief Prosecutor, the Deputy European Chief Prosecutors, the European Prosecutors, the European Delegated Prosecutors, the Administrative Director, as well as the staff of the EPPO shall act in the interest of the Union as a whole, as defined by law, and neither seek nor take instructions from any person external to the EPPO, any Member State of the European Union or any institution, body, office or agency of the Union in the performance of their duties under this Regulation. The Member States of the European Union and the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the Union shall respect the independence of the EPPO and shall not seek to influence it in the exercise of its tasks.
2
The EPPO shall be accountable to the European Parliament, to the Council and to the Commission for its general activities, and shall issue annual reports in accordance with Article 7.

Reporting
Article 7
1
Every year the EPPO shall draw up and publicly issue an Annual Report on its general activities in the official languages of the institutions of the Union. It shall transmit the report to the European Parliament and to national parliaments, as well as to the Council and to the Commission.
2
The European Chief Prosecutor shall appear once a year before the European Parliament and before the Council, and before national parliaments of the Member States at their request, to give account of the general activities of the EPPO, without prejudice to the EPPO’s obligation of discretion and confidentiality as regards individual cases and personal data. The European Chief Prosecutor may be replaced by one of the Deputy European Chief Prosecutors for hearings organised by national parliaments.