Chief Prosecutor Warns EU Fraud Office Risks Being ‘Killed Softly’

The European Union's chief fraud buster is leaving office with a blunt warning for the capitals that set up her agency. Marking the conclusion of her seven-year mandate at the helm of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, Laura Codruța Kövesi warned that the independent body risks being “killed softly for doing its job.” In an interview reflecting on her tenure, Kövesi addressed the mounting resistance and operational hurdles confronting the cross-border prosecution service as its investigations increasingly touch sensitive ground.

To understand the tension, it helps to decode what the European Public Prosecutor's Office actually does. Created to protect EU taxpayers, the body is not another advisory panel or audit board issuing polite recommendations. It is an independent prosecution office empowered to investigate, prosecute, and bring to trial crimes affecting the EU budget — including cross-border fraud, subsidy diversion, money laundering, and large-scale sales tax schemes. When an EU body acquires actual criminal teeth, enthusiasm among national capitals can cool noticeably once those teeth begin biting into domestic spending habits. A gradual squeeze on resources or political backing directly affects whether misused EU funds ever get recovered.

The warning captures a familiar Brussels paradox: member states routinely demand strict protection of public funds until an enforcement body actually looks into how those funds are distributed. Because the prosecutor's office relies on participating EU governments for judicial cooperation, resources, and delegated prosecutors on the ground, institutional support can erode quietly through administrative friction rather than open confrontation. In institutional terms, 'killed softly' is the classic machinery move: not a dramatic legislative repeal, but a gentle drying up of enthusiasm, staffing, and goodwill behind closed doors.

With Kövesi's seven-year term drawing to a close, attention turns to the selection of her successor and whether the agency can protect its operational independence. The transition will test whether participating member states intend to reinforce the prosecutor's powers or leave the office to navigate institutional resistance with tighter margins.