Hungarian Prosecutor’s Office and EU’s OLAF sign working agreement

Hungary’s Chief Public Prosecutor Péter Polt and Ville Itala, Director-General of OLAF, the EU’s anti-fraud body, signed a working agreement on further strengthening the two organisations’ professional cooperation along the lines of common goals and interests, the Prosecutor’s Office said on Friday.

The agreement is aimed at formalising the “excellent cooperation between the two organisations”, it said in a statement.

The agreement was prepared by Polt and Itala during their meeting in Budapest on January 31. At their meeting they reaffirmed that their cooperation and an effective exchange of information on the misuse of EU funds remain a priority.

The agreement defines mutual information exchange and operative assistance as the most important areas of cooperation and will allow extended opportunities of joint trainings and technical assistance.

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The Prosecutor’s Office noted that according to OLAF’s 2020 annual report, Hungary has filed indictments in 67 percent of the cases investigated by OLAF, close to twice the European Union average of 37 percent.

It also noted that the number of cases recommended by OLAF for investigation had dropped gradually from 10 in 2016 to 6 in 2017, 4 in 2018, 3 in 2019 and 2 each in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

Hungary is not a member of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), but in April 2021, the Prosecution Service of Hungary — as the first and only one among the non-participating countries — concluded a working arrangement with the EPPO for the purpose of joint operation.