The countries with the lowest number of cases under investigation by the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) for criminal acts of fraud/corruption that harm the financial interests of the European Union (EU) include Cyprus, according to the EPPO Annual Report on 2021. In the recently published Report and based on its content, the European Public Prosecutor's Office investigates only 3 cases concerning the Republic of Cyprus. Note that only two EU countries have a smaller number of cases under investigation than Cyprus.
More specifically, the Report states that out of the total of 515 under investigation cases for criminal acts in the EU Member States. for 2021 investigated by EPPO, only 3 concern the Republic (ie 0.58%). Of the total estimated loss in the EU funds from the cases under investigation, which amounts to 5.4 billion Euros, the estimated total loss for the cases concerning Cyprus amounts to 1.5 million Euros (ie percentage 0, 28%).
Furthermore, Cyprus provides assistance to the EPPO, through the Cypriot European Commissioner-designate, in a number of cases involving cross-border fraud/corruption offenses against the Union's financial interests which have taken place in other EU Member States
Based on the above EPPO Report, the official position of the Attorney General of the Republic in January 2021 is confirmed, that, “the criminal acts which were examined by the Cypriot Police Authorities and which would fall into the category of crimes examined by the European Public Prosecutor's Office, never exceeded 4 cases per year “. His position challenged the European Public Prosecutor's Office, which stated that from its data, the cases of the Republic of Cyprus are expected to be so high that they may reach 10% of the total cases that it expects to be examined by the Office of the European Prosecutor General. .
The Report has been posted on the website of the European Public Prosecutor's Office, at the link:
https://www.eppo.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2022-03 /EPPO_Annual_Report_2021.pdf
