As has been tradition since 2016, Transparency International EU (TI EU) presents an annual award to a master’s graduate of the College of Europe, for the best thesis on European Union’s role in fighting corruption, or the transparency, integrity, and accountability of EU institutions. After carefully reviewing the theses, 2025’s prize was awarded to European Political and Governance Studies graduate Charline dos Reis Barreira.
Charline’s thesis, titled “OLAF & EPPO: Cooperation or clash? Understanding the dynamics between OLAF and the EPPO in combating fraud”, examines the cooperation between two key actors in the European Union’s anti-fraud framework, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO). Her thesis reveals that, despite the legal basis for cooperation, the relationship’s strategic reality is far more ambivalent, as OLAF’s effort to preserve its own institutional identity within a shifting institutions environment complicates cooperation with the EPPO.
At Transparency International EU, we have ourselves for the past two years worked on a project on strengthening the enforcement capacities of public authorities such as OLAF and the EPPO. Our recent report highlighted, among other issues, the lack of effective information sharing between them.
Anna Terrone, Policy Officer for Illicit Financial Flows at TI EU, and the lead on the project, noted that tackling cross-border financial crime remains poorly coordinated:
“While one would expect EU agencies to work closely together to ensure successful investigations and prosecutions, significant weaknesses in cooperation persist. Charline’s thesis offers timely and critical insights into similar shortcomings between two other key actors within the EU’s anti-fraud architecture. Her findings closely align with our research and underscore the urgent need for a more centralised and efficient EU-wide approach to combatting illicit financial flows.”
The full thesis is available here.
