Europe’s new public prosecutor warns of gross underfunding and staffing of her office

By Sara Lewis, in Brussels

The new European Chief Prosecutor, Laura Codruţa Kövesi, has warned MEPs that the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), due to launch later this year, lacks the funding and delegated national prosecutors necessary to tackle a huge caseload, including €30 to €60 billion cross-border VAT fraud hitting the European Union (EU) annually.