On 5 March 2024, there was a meeting organised by the Rural Support Service of Latvia (RSS), representatives of farmers' NGOs and the European Public Prosecutor Gatis Doniks. Participants had great opportunity to get acquainted witht the work of European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) and open cases in agriculture. In total, more than 250 people attended the event both in person and online.
Gatis Doniks admitted: "RSS is doing a lot of work and many shortcomings are being addressed before they come to the attention of EPPO. We all need to work together to prevent fraud in agriculture. It is also important that beneficiaries are educated and have a common understanding."
The European Public Prosecutor described the work carried out by EPPO in different EU countries, including Latvia, as well as the various fraud cases that have been investigated so far. One of the most frequent groups of irregularities that EPPO has been able to identify relates to the conduct of procurement procedures. Farmers also had many questions about the work of EPPO and how to prevent fraud.
The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) is the first supranational prosecutor's office with the power to independently investigate and prosecute criminal offences affecting the financial interests of European Union.