Judicial Cooperation Between the EPPO and Third Countries : Chances and Challenges

Abstract

The article deals with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office’s (EPPO’s) specific role in the fight against EU fraud in relation \nto third countries, i.e., countries outside the EU. It contains an overview of the various legal avenues in the EPPO Regulation \nthat the EPPO may explore for engaging in judicial cooperation with such third countries. It then describes the legal parameters that will mostly affect the application of these various modalities in practice. In its conclusion, the article assumes that \nit may well prove to be rather challenging for the EPPO to develop its external role and that it is likely to have to deal with a \npatchwork of forms of judicial cooperation as a result, as this will depend on factors like the nature of the case and the third \ncountry involved. Equally, once the EPPO is up and running and in a position to start defining its external policy priorities it will \nneed to identify the third countries most relevant to its operational activities, assess the possibilities for judicial cooperation \nwith them and, if need be, propose solutions to Member States or the Commission, as the case may be, in order to address any \nlegal voids encountered in the process.