ΔΕΥΤΕΡΗ ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ ΚΟΒΕΣΙ

11 Av. John F. Kennedy L-1855 Luxembourg Luxembourg

EPPO/LCK/2026/281

19 May 2026

Mr Georgios Floridis Minister of Justice Hellenic Republic By e-mail only

Dear Minister, By this letter, I would like to urgently bring to your attention the position of the EPPO with respect to the proposed Article 32A of the Greek Code of Criminal Procedure, which is intended to regulate the investigation and trial of offences committed by members of the Parliament.

We have learned of this proposal in the late evening of yesterday, 18 May 2025, and understand that the Hellenic Parliament will vote on the proposal in the course of today.

According to the proposed provision, in criminal cases concerning member of Parliament, the main investigation shall be conducted by a special investigative judge of the court of appeal within four months, by way of derogation from any other general or specific provision.

We would like to highlight that the proposed provision is clearly incompatible with the EPPO Regulation, since it does not exempt from its application the cases falling within the competence of the EPPO. It is our understanding that the provision is also incompatible with the Greek Law 4786/2021, which provides that the European Delegated Prosecutors shall exercise all the investigative powers of an investigative judge, with the exception of conducting the defendant’s examination and deciding on the restrictive measures/provisional detainment.

With regard to the latter exceptions, you will recall our previous letter of 24 April 2026, where we highlighted that in EPPO proceedings concerning felonies, certain key acts of the investigation are still reserved to an investigative judge, in what constitutes, in our view, a violation of the EPPO’s prerogatives under the EU Treaties.

It seems that the proposed provision goes even further, by fully disregarding the powers of the EPPO and its Delegated Prosecutors conferred to them under EU law, since it entrusts the main investigation of felonies committed by members of the Parliament to a national investigative judge.

This is further creating a differentiation of treatment for a specific category of persons being investigated for offences falling under the EPPO competence, which is not permitted under applicable Union law.

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11 Av. John F. Kennedy L-1855 Luxembourg Luxembourg

We would also like to add that the proposed provision is introducing a very tight time-limit for the completion of the main investigation of felonies. Such a time-limit could strongly limit the possibility for an effective investigation of offences in cases which are often complex.

These modifications to Greek law, should they be adopted in their current form, put at risk the effective protection of the Union’s budget in Greece and raise serious concerns from the point of view of the respect for the Rule of Law. What is more, the process for adoption, with a draft text on such a fundamental matter introduced a few hours before its intended adoption by the Greek Parliament, eliminates any chance of a serious debate on the matter, introducing an element of urgency which is, in our view, entirely unjustified.

I therefore urge you to consider the matter in the shortest possible timeframe, both on process and on content. The EPPO remains of course available to cooperate with you in order to ensure that everything is done in the Hellenic Republic to enhance the effectiveness of and speed of our investigations into criminal offences affecting the Union’s financial interest.

Yours sincerely,

Laura Kövesi European Chief Prosecutor

Cc.:

Andrés Ritter, Deputy European Chief Prosecutor Nikolaos Paschalis, European Prosecutor Milan Jaroň, Head of Executive Office

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Electronically signed on 19/05/2026 12:07 (UTC+02) in accordance with Article 11 of Commission Decision (EU) 2021/2121