Slovakia causing delays to new EU Prosecutor’s Office
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EXCLUSIVE / Our partners in Bratislava report that Slovakia will be the last country delaying the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), a new EU-wide body that will tackle large-scale, cross-border crime against the EU budget.
The reason is that Slovakia has so far failed to come up with the names of three candidates for the post of European prosecutor. The EU Council needs to pick one. Thus far, only one candidate has passed the selection process. The college of European prosecutors needs to be formed as soon as possible to decide on the EPPO’s internal rules before the Office becomes operational.
According to EURACTIV Slovakia, other member countries, which were also behind schedule, are now on track to submit their candidates, leaving Slovakia as the laggard.
Due to provisions in Slovak national law on the selection process, it is unlikely that Slovakia will be able to deliver the names this autumn. In addition, Slovakia narrowed the pool of possible candidates, excluding judges, which goes beyond the scope of the EU regulation on EPPO, according to Jan Mazak, a distinguished Slovak lawyer and former advocate general at the European Court of Justice, who is also part of the European panel of experts reviewing all national candidates for EPPO. (Zuzana Gabrižová,EURACTIV.sk)
Huawei is not a threat. EURACTIV Slovakia also had an interesting interview with the Chinese Ambassador to Slovakia Lin Lin. Referring to the “digital row” over Huawei, the ambassador said the EU had to show concrete evidence, that Huawei is a security threat.“The relations between Huawei and the Chinese government are not different than any major local company in Slovakia with the Slovak government. I think every government has a natural responsibility to promote its local industry and local companies. But this time Huawei has been accused of being a threat without any evidence,” he said.
EURACTIV.com will publish the full interview later today.
Campaigning begins. Spanish lawmakers on Wednesday unofficially began campaigning for the upcoming elections with a heated debate in which party leaders blamed each other for the political deadlock that will force voters to return to the polls for the fourth time in less than four years. Acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said he was confident that his Socialist Party (PSOE) would secure a majority in the repeat polls.
