European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday called on the Slovenian government to urgently appoint delegated prosecutors to the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO).

“Slovenia must deliver and cooperate with the EPPO,” as Slovenia has signed up to it, von der Leyen said at a joint press conference on Thursday in Brdo Pri Kranju, northwest of Ljubljana, after a college meeting at the start of Slovenia’s presidency of the Council of the EU.

Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa said that the appointment procedure would be completed by autumn. He rejected criticism by European Chief Prosecutor Laura Kövesi who expressed concern that the failure to appoint a delegated prosecutor could hamper effective oversight of how EU money, intended for economic recovery, is spent in the country.

Jansa said that the EPPO was established on the basis of a mechanism to strengthen cooperation and that not all EU member states participated in it, wondering how, for example, the spending of EU funds in Sweden, which has not joined the EPPO, would be controlled.

Unhappy with the way Slovenia’s personnel was appointed to European bodies, Jansa in May announced a possible second call for the appointment of two delegated prosecutors from Slovenia to the EPPO, which the national association of prosecutors considers unjustified.

Several months ago, the Council of Prosecutors proposed Matej Ostir and Tanja Frank Eler for the posts under the procedure currently in force but the government did not put the proposals on the agenda as Jansa is dissatisfied that under the current procedure, the government only takes note that the process has been completed and forwards the nominations.