Why the European Public Prosecutor’s Office is reshaping the landscape of cross-border white-collar enforcement — and what companies must know now.

1. A New Prosecutor in Town

For decades, criminal enforcement in Europe was national business. Each Member State investigated and prosecuted its own economic crimes.

Then came the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) — a supranational authority with the power to investigate and prosecute offenses affecting the EU’s financial interests.

Since its operational start in 2021, the EPPO has opened more than 2,000 investigations across Europe, including complex VAT fraud, customs evasion, and subsidy misuse.

Its message is clear: cross-border cases require cross-border prosecutors.

2. The EPPO’s Expanding Reach

What began as a mechanism to protect the EU budget now extends far beyond it. Customs and trade-related investigations often fall under its scope, particularly where goods move between Member States. Sanctions enforcement and fraud against EU-funded projects are new frontiers.

This expansion means that companies doing business in Europe must understand the EPPO’s logic — even if they have never received a letter from it. Its reach extends through joint operations with national prosecutors, Europol, and OLAF (the European Anti-Fraud Office).

3. How EPPO Investigations Differ

EPPO cases are not “just another investigation.”

They differ in procedure, coordination, and cultural approach:

• Multilingual evidence review: files may circulate across several jurisdictions.
• Hybrid teams: European Delegated Prosecutors act within national courts but under EPPO supervision.
• Parallel competence: national prosecutors and the EPPO may both claim jurisdiction — creating legal and tactical complexity.

This hybrid structure demands a defense strategy that is both national and European — a dual lens few practitioners truly master.

4. Corporate Exposure: More Than EU Funds

While the EPPO’s original mandate focused on fraud involving EU subsidies, practice shows a broader focus. In particular:

• Customs evasion linked to goods imported from or transshipped through non-EU states (see our earlier article on Sanctions, Trade, and Criminal Risk;
• VAT carousel fraud, often connected to complex intra-EU trading chains;
• Procurement and tenders involving both national and EU funds.

These cases frequently involve private-sector participants — suppliers, intermediaries, and logistics firms — not just state entities.

5. Coordination Challenges

For companies, the biggest challenge is not legal guilt or innocence, but coordination. EPPO investigations often involve multiple Member States, each with different procedural codes, privilege concepts, and disclosure practices.

An inconsistent defense narrative between Germany, Belgium, or Italy can cause major setbacks. As we described in Cross-Border Compliance: The Art of Efficient Collaboration, synchronising communication across jurisdictions is essential.

Here, small, networked teams have a clear advantage over large, compartmentalised structures.

6. The Role of German Companies

Germany plays a central role in the EPPO ecosystem. With one of the largest national networks of European Delegated Prosecutors, Germany is both a major source and recipient of EPPO referrals. Companies headquartered here — even if their business is global — are often the procedural anchor for cross-border cases.

The Federal Ministry of Justice (BMJ) has repeatedly emphasised the need for cooperation between German authorities and the EPPO. For defense lawyers, this means understanding both systems simultaneously: German criminal procedure (StPO) and EPPO procedural rules.

7. Preparing for the European Dimension

Preparation is not about predicting an EPPO investigation; it is about being able to respond instantly if one arises. Companies should:

• maintain a centralised document and privilege policy across all EU entities;
• train compliance and legal teams to recognise EPPO correspondence;
• establish early contact with specialized white-collar counsel who understand transnational procedure.

As highlighted by the Basel Institute on Governance, early risk identification in multi-jurisdictional settings significantly reduces exposure.

8. The Boutique Advantage in a European Context

Large-scale investigations often demand a networked approach, not a single large office. Boutique teams can act faster, communicate directly with multiple jurisdictions, and ensure consistency without bureaucracy.

At RSTP, we coordinate joint defense strategies across Europe, engaging forensic experts and local partners when scale is needed — without losing the precision of a single-point contact.

This lean, responsive structure has proven essential in EPPO and customs investigations, where timing and clarity are decisive.

9. The Takeaway

The EPPO is not a threat — it’s a new reality. It symbolises the Europeanisation of economic criminal law.

Companies that understand its structure and build adaptive defense systems today will be those that stay resilient tomorrow.

The future of corporate investigations in Europe is already here — and it speaks more than one language.