The European Commission denied on Friday that it would have problems cooperating with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), after its head, Laura Codruca Koveci, complained of a lack of cooperation with European Union institutions.

In an interview with Politico earlier this month, Europe’s chief prosecutor, Laura Codruca Koveci, said that the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) “has not received much information” from the European Commission’s internal departments and that her office, which is tasked with detecting and prosecuting crimes involving EU funds, is in the process of setting up bilateral meetings to find out why.

Kovesi also complained that “the number of messages he has received from European institutions is very small”, referring to briefings or warnings from EU officials.

Christian Wiegand, spokesman for the Commission on Justice, Equality and the Rule of Law, said relations with the EPPO were good.

“I think that in general we can say that we have a very good cooperation with the EPPO and that we have put a lot of effort into establishing it and securing the appropriate funding,” Wiegand said.

A spokesperson responded to the Politico story by saying that the EC does not exert undue influence on the prosecutor’s office.

“In terms of investigations, the EPPO is of course completely independent,” he said.

When asked if the EPPO had heard Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as part of an investigation into EU vaccine procurement, European Commission Deputy Spokesperson Dana Spinant said the European executive still had “no information” about the EPPO’s investigation (News.ro)