EU prosecutor’s office concerned by Slovakia slashing jail terms for corruption

11 months ago 33

Slovakia could lose access to EU funds under the rule of law conditionality mechanism as the EU’s public prosecutor cites a lack of “effective, proportionate and dissuasive criminal sanctions” to punish offences against the EU budget.

Proposals to reform this area of the law have already attracted the ire of the EU Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) even though Prime Minister Robert Fico already said he wants to discuss the reform plans with the European Commission.

“Based on our preliminary analysis, we are concerned that some of the proposed amendments to the Slovak criminal code would no longer ensure that offences against the EU budget are punishable by effective, proportionate and dissuasive criminal sanctions in Slovakia,” EPPO spokeswoman Tine Hollevoet told Euractiv Slovakia.

The office will, therefore, “analyse possible legislative changes very carefully as to their potential impact on EPPO’s work”, as it is its “duty to inform relevant institutions about any practice or legislative change negatively affecting its ability to protect the financial interests of the EU or its independence”.

If the proposed reform also reduces sanctions for EU funds fraud, it could trigger an infringement procedure or even the suspension of EU funds – like for neighbouring Hungary – for Bratislava.

On Monday, however, the Commission received the draft reform from Fico’s government, which plans to dismantle the special prosecutor’s office overseeing high-profile corruption cases from the Smer era.

In response, nine Slovak MEPs sent a letter to the European Commission on Tuesday, warning the EU of the risks of the changes being rushed through by Fico’s government, calling them “an unprecedented attack on the rule of law in Slovakia”.

“The Slovak government’s proposal does not represent a reform of criminal procedure in Slovakia, as Fico so desperately tries to claim,” said European Parliament Vice-President Martin Hojsík, who initiated the MEPs’ letter.

“It aims to weaken and de facto abolish the Special Prosecutor’s Office and the Specialised Criminal Court,” he added.

Criticism is now coming from Slovak President Zuzana Čaputova, who has joined the chorus of critics, saying that she “considers this step to be a very unfortunate, even dangerous interference in the prosecution, which functions from the hands of political power”.

(Natália Silenská | Euractiv.sk)