The investigation into the European People’s Party over EU funds has been closed

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) has ended its investigation into senior figures of the European People’s Party, including the group’s leader in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber. An EPPO spokesperson confirmed this to Politico.

The case concerned allegations of misuse of EU funds dating back to 2019, when Weber was the party’s lead candidate in the European elections.

According to the EPPO statement, the investigation included witness hearings, extensive data collection and bank account analyses. The authority ultimately found that there were no sufficient grounds to believe a criminal offence had been committed.

The inquiry focused on the possible improper receipt of payments from two sources — the European People’s Party and its group in the European Parliament. Prosecutors examined whether this could constitute a violation of EU financial rules.

The EPPO statement also confirms for the first time that the party leader himself was part of the investigation. Until now, it had only been known that several high-ranking officials were being scrutinized. Belgian police documents seen by Politico at the time listed several potential offences — from the falsification of public documents to fraud or corruption.

In its statement on Thursday, the EPPO does not mention any names and refers only to “the president of a political group in the European Parliament and his collaborators.” However, as Politico previously reported, the European People’s Party was the only party subject to such an EPPO investigation.

A spokesperson for Manfred Weber declined to comment.

(lud)