European Parliament approves Andrés Ritter as new EPPO chief prosecutor

The European Parliament has approved the appointment of Andrés Ritter as the new European Chief Prosecutor of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), a decision published in the C series of the Official Journal of the European Union on 26 August 2026. The approval was adopted by the Parliament on 10 March 2026 and is set out in document C/2026/4026, which also contains the annexed Decision (EU) 2026/… appointing the new head of the EU’s anti-fraud prosecution body.

The appointment follows the procedure laid down in Article 14 of Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1939, which established the EPPO under enhanced cooperation, and in Article 86 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Ritter will take office as a temporary agent at grade AD 15 for a non-renewable term of seven years beginning on 1 November 2026, succeeding Laura Codruța Kövesi, the first European Chief Prosecutor, whose mandate expires on 31 October 2026.

Selection process

The selection panel drew up a shortlist of four qualified candidates, which it submitted to the Parliament and the Council on 8 October 2025, together with the reasons for selection, their curricula vitae and motivation letters. The open call for candidates had been published in the Official Journal on 28 April 2025.

• The Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee (LIBE), in association with the Budgetary Control Committee, held a public hearing of the four candidates on 3 December 2025.
• On the same day, LIBE voted in support of Andrés Ritter as the Parliament’s preferred candidate.
• Also on 3 December 2025, the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper) established the Council’s position in support of Ritter.
• Because both institutions backed the same candidate, a common accord on the appointment was reached, confirmed by the Council in a letter of 14 January 2026.

Role and mandate

The European Chief Prosecutor is the head of the EPPO, organising its work, directing its activities and taking decisions in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 and the office’s internal rules of procedure. The College of the EPPO is composed of the European Chief Prosecutor and one European Prosecutor per participating Member State.

The decision enters into force on the third day following its publication in the Official Journal. The Parliament instructed its President to sign the annexed decision with the President of the Council and to forward it to the Council and, for information, to the Commission.

Why it matters

The appointment places Andrés Ritter at the head of the body responsible for investigating and prosecuting fraud against the EU budget, including VAT fraud and corruption affecting Union finances. With a non-renewable seven-year term, the new European Chief Prosecutor will steer the EPPO’s strategy for protecting European taxpayers’ money across the participating Member States from late 2026 onwards.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, C series, C/2026/4026, 26 August 2026, p. 1 (official reference: C/2026/4026; Decision (EU) 2026/…).