Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1939Show full title

CHAPTER XI U.K. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 106 U.K. Legal status and operating conditions

1. In each of the Member States the EPPO shall have the legal capacity accorded to legal persons under national law.

2. The necessary arrangements concerning the accommodation provided for the EPPO and the facilities made available by Luxembourg, as well as the specific rules applicable in that Member State to the Members of the College, the Administrative Director and the staff of the EPPO, and members of their families, shall be laid down in a Headquarters Agreement to be concluded between the EPPO and Luxembourg by the date the EPPO assumes its investigative and prosecutorial tasks determined in accordance with Article 120(2).

Article 107 U.K. Language arrangements

1. Council Regulation (EEC) No 1/58(1) shall apply to the acts referred to in Articles 21 and 114 of this Regulation.

2. The College shall decide by a two-thirds majority of its members on the internal language arrangements of the EPPO.

3. The translation services required for the administrative functioning of the EPPO at the central level shall be provided by the Translation Centre of the bodies of the European Union, unless the urgency of the matter requires another solution. European Delegated Prosecutors shall decide on the modalities of translation for the purpose of investigations in accordance with applicable national law.

Article 108 U.K. Confidentiality and professional secrecy

1. The members of the College, the Administrative Director and the staff of the EPPO, seconded national experts and other persons put at the disposal of the EPPO but not employed by it, and European Delegated Prosecutors shall be bound by an obligation of confidentiality in accordance with Union legislation with respect to any information held by the EPPO.

2. Any other person who participates or assists in carrying out the functions of the EPPO at the national level shall be bound by an obligation of confidentiality as provided for under applicable national law.

3. The obligation of confidentiality shall also apply to the persons referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 after they have left office or employment and after the termination of activities.

4. The obligation of confidentiality shall, in accordance with applicable national or Union law, apply to all information received by the EPPO, unless that information has already lawfully been made public.

5. Investigations carried out under the authority of the EPPO shall be protected by the rules concerning professional secrecy under the applicable Union law. Any person who participates or assists in carrying out the functions of the EPPO shall be bound to respect professional secrecy under the applicable national law.

Article 109 U.K. Transparency

1. Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council(2) shall apply to documents other than case files, including electronic images of those files, that are kept in accordance with Article 45 of this Regulation.

2. The European Chief Prosecutor shall, within 6 months of the date of his/her appointment, prepare a proposal for detailed rules for applying this Article. That proposal shall be adopted by the College.

3. Decisions taken by the EPPO under Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 may form the subject of a complaint to the European Ombudsman or of an action before the Court of Justice, under the conditions laid down in Articles 228 and 263 TFEU respectively.

Article 110 U.K. OLAF and the Court of Auditors

1. In order to facilitate combating fraud, corruption and other unlawful activities under Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013, by 6 months after the date to be set by the Commission pursuant to Article 120(2), the EPPO shall accede to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 25 May 1999 concerning internal investigations by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF)(3), and shall adopt the appropriate provisions applicable to the European Chief Prosecutor, the European Prosecutors, the Administrative Director and the staff of the EPPO, seconded national experts and other persons put at the disposal of the EPPO but not employed by it, and European Delegated Prosecutors using the template set out in the Annex to that Agreement.

2. The Court of Auditors shall have the power of audit, on the basis of documents and on the spot, over all contractors and subcontractors who have received Union funds from the EPPO.

3. OLAF may carry out investigations, including on-the-spot checks and inspections, in accordance with the provisions and procedures laid down in Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013 and Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96(4) with a view to establishing whether there have been any irregularities affecting the financial interests of the Union in connection with expenditure funded by the EPPO.

4. Without prejudice to paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, working arrangements with bodies of the Union, authorities of third countries and international organisations, and contracts of the EPPO shall contain provisions expressly empowering the Court of Auditors and OLAF to conduct such audits and investigations, according to their respective competences.

Article 111 U.K. Rules on the protection of sensitive non-classified and classified information

1. The EPPO shall establish internal rules on the protection of sensitive non-classified information, including the creation and processing of such information at the EPPO.

2. The EPPO shall establish internal rules on the protection of the EU classified information that shall be consistent with Council Decision 2013/488/EU(5) in order to ensure an equivalent level of protection for such information.

Article 112 U.K. Administrative inquiries

The administrative activities of the EPPO shall be subject to the inquiries of the European Ombudsman in accordance with Article 228 TFEU.

Article 113 U.K. General regime of liability

1. The contractual liability of the EPPO shall be governed by the law applicable to the contract in question.

2. The Court of Justice shall have jurisdiction to give judgment pursuant to any arbitration clause contained in a contract concluded by the EPPO.

3. In the case of non-contractual liability, the EPPO shall, in accordance with the general principles common to the laws of the Member States of the European Union make good any damage caused by the EPPO or its staff in the performance of their duties in so far as it may be imputed to them.

4. Paragraph 3 shall also apply to damage caused through the fault of a European Delegated Prosecutor in the performance of his/her duties.

5. The Court of Justice shall have jurisdiction in disputes over compensation for damages as referred to in paragraph 3.

6. The national courts of the Member States of the European Union competent to deal with disputes involving the contractual liability of the EPPO as referred to in this Article shall be determined by reference to Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council(6).

7. The personal liability of the staff of the EPPO shall be governed by the applicable provisions laid down in the Staff Regulations and the Conditions of Employment.

Article 114 U.K. Implementing rules and programme documents

The College, on the proposal of the European Chief Prosecutor, shall adopt in particular:

(a)

on an annual basis, the programming document containing annual and multi-annual programming of the EPPO;

(b)

an anti-fraud strategy, which is proportionate to the fraud risks having regard to the cost-benefit of the measures to be implemented;

(c)

rules on the conditions of employment, performance criteria, professional insufficiency, rights and obligations of the European Delegated Prosecutors, including rules on the prevention and management of conflicts of interest;

(d)

detailed rules concerning the application of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 in the activities of the EPPO;

(e)

implementing rules referred to in Article 24(8) of Regulation (EC) No 45/2001.

Article 115 U.K. Exercise of the delegation

1. The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article.

2. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 49(3) shall be conferred on the Commission for an indeterminate period of time from 20 November 2017.

3. The delegation of power referred to in Article 49(3) may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect on the day following the date of publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or on a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.

4. Before adopting a delegated act, the Commission shall consult experts designated by each Member State in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Law Making of 13 April 2016.

5. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.

6. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 49(3) shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or by the Council within a period of 2 months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and to the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by 2 months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.

Article 116 U.K. Urgency procedure

1. Delegated acts adopted under this Article shall enter into force without delay and shall apply as long as no objection is expressed in accordance with paragraph 2. The notification of a delegated act to the European Parliament and to the Council shall state the reasons for the use of the urgency procedure.

2. Either the European Parliament or the Council may object to a delegated act in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 115(6). In such a case, the Commission shall repeal the act immediately following the notification of the decision to object by the European Parliament or by the Council.

Article 117 U.K. Notifications

Each Member State shall designate the authorities that are competent for the purposes of implementing this Regulation. Information on the designated authorities, as well as on any subsequent change thereto, shall be notified simultaneously to the European Chief Prosecutor, to the Council and to the Commission. Member States shall also notify to the EPPO an extensive list of the national substantive criminal law provisions that apply to the offences defined in Directive (EU) 2017/1371 and any other relevant national law. The EPPO shall ensure that the information received through these lists is made public. Furthermore, Member States that, in accordance with Article 30(3), intend to limit the application of points (e) and (f) of Article 30(1) to specific serious offences shall notify the EPPO of a list of those offences.

Article 118 U.K. Review of the rules relating to the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the EPPO

In the context of the adaptation of Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 in accordance with Article 2(3) and Article 98 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the Commission shall review the provisions relating to the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the EPPO laid down in this Regulation. The Commission shall, if appropriate, submit a legislative proposal with a view to amending or repealing those provisions.

Article 119 U.K. Review clause

1. No later than 5 years after the date to be set by the Commission pursuant to Article 120(2), and every 5 years thereafter, the Commission shall commission an evaluation and shall submit an evaluation report on the implementation and impact of this Regulation, as well as on the effectiveness and efficiency of the EPPO and its working practices. The Commission shall forward the evaluation report together with its conclusions to the European Parliament and to the Council and to national parliaments. The findings of the evaluation shall be made public.

2. The Commission shall submit legislative proposals to the European Parliament and the Council if it concludes that it is necessary to have additional or more detailed rules on the setting up of the EPPO, its functions or the procedure applicable to its activities, including its cross-border investigations.

Article 120 U.K. Entry into force

1. This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

2. The EPPO shall exercise its competence with regard to any offence within its competence committed after the date on which this Regulation has entered into force.

The EPPO shall assume the investigative and prosecutorial tasks conferred on it by this Regulation on a date to be determined by a decision of the Commission on a proposal of the European Chief Prosecutor once the EPPO is set up. The decision of the Commission shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

The date to be set by the Commission shall not be earlier than 3 years after the date of entry into force of this Regulation.

For those Member States which participate in enhanced cooperation by virtue of a decision adopted in accordance with the second or third subparagraph of Article 331(1) TFEU, this Regulation shall apply as from the date indicated in the decision concerned.

(1)

Council Regulation (EEC) No 1/58 determining the languages to be used by the European Economic Community (OJ 17, 6.10.1958, p. 385/58).

(2)

Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43).

(3)

Interinstitutional agreement of 25 May 1999 between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the Commission of the European Communities concerning internal investigations by the European Anti-fraud Office (OLAF) (OJ L 136, 31.5.1999, p. 15).

(4)

Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 of 11 November 1996 concerning on-the-spot checks and inspections carried out by the Commission in order to protect the European Communities’ financial interests against fraud and other irregularities (OJ L 292, 15.11.1996, p. 2).

(5)

Council Decision 2013/488/EU of 23 September 2013 on the security rules for protecting EU classified information (OJ L 274, 15.10.2013, p. 1).

(6)

Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (OJ L 351, 20.12.2012, p. 1).