The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), which has recently made headlines due to the OPEKEPE case, is a new judicial institution that began operating only in June 2021.

It has agreements with 24 countries and investigates cases of mismanagement of European funds.

Official data from the 2024 activity report show that investigations—especially those concerning agricultural subsidies—are not a “Greek phenomenon,” as claimed by the opposition.

On the contrary, the number of cases being investigated by the EPPO in other countries is significantly higher than in Greece.

At the forefront of the EPPO’s investigations are agricultural subsidies, highlighting how vulnerable the current system is across Europe and exposing the weaknesses of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

Illegal Subsidies

More specifically, the EPPO’s investigations concern complaints about illegal subsidies across all EU member states. The office currently has a total of 2,666 open cases in the 24 EU countries it cooperates with, of which only 84 concern Greece, and just 25 relate to agricultural programs.

The number of open cases in Greece is clearly smaller than in countries like Italy, Romania, the Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia, and Bulgaria. Even Luxembourg has 18 ongoing investigations.

For example, Italy has 764 open cases, 117 of which concern agricultural subsidies or grants.

In Romania, the home country of European Chief Prosecutor Laura Kövesi, 380 cases are under investigation, 67 of which are linked to agricultural programs.

According to EPPO data, open investigations by country are as follows:

Greece: 84 active investigations, with estimated damage of €1.71 billion. Of these, 25 involve agricultural programs.

Italy: 764 cases, estimated damage of €7.05 billion. 117 involve agricultural programs.

Germany: 295 cases, estimated damage of €5 billion. 9 involve agricultural programs.

Romania: 380 investigations, estimated damage of €2.57 billion. 67 for agricultural programs, 136 for regional programs, 58 for social cohesion programs.

Spain: 75 investigations, estimated damage of €464.8 million. 17 involve agricultural programs.

Austria: 46 investigations, estimated damage of €735.5 million. 29 involve the Recovery Fund.

Belgium: 79 investigations, estimated damage of €1.47 billion. 4 involve agricultural programs, most involve VAT fraud.

Bulgaria: 254 investigations, estimated damage of €1.13 billion. 72 for agricultural programs.

Croatia: 80 investigations, estimated damage of €373 million. 21 for agricultural programs.

Cyprus: 12 investigations, estimated damage of €583.42 million. 1 for agricultural programs, 4 for educational and research programs.

Czech Republic: 105 investigations, estimated damage of €779 million. 3 for agricultural programs, 46 for regional programs.

Estonia: 13 investigations, estimated damage of €8.4 million. 3 for agricultural, 8 for regional programs.

Finland: 13 investigations, estimated damage of €9.09 million. 2 for agricultural programs.

France: 114 investigations, estimated damage of €642.8 million. 16 relate to agricultural programs.

Latvia: 43 investigations, estimated damage of €130.7 million. 8 for agricultural programs.

Lithuania: 39 investigations, estimated damage of €77.21 million. 10 for agricultural, 16 for regional programs.

Luxembourg: 18 investigations, estimated damage of €173.8 million.

Malta: 16 investigations, estimated damage of €181.41 million. 4 involve agricultural programs.

Netherlands: 32 investigations, estimated damage of €213.7 million. 5 involve agricultural programs.

Portugal: 69 investigations, estimated damage of €730.81 million. 5 involve agricultural, 17 regional programs.

Slovakia: 98 investigations, estimated damage of €681.2 million. 37 for agricultural programs, 34 for regional.

There are no available figures for Poland and Sweden, as their first European prosecutors were appointed in December 2024.