Author: Federico Mamoli
Subcommittee: Lawyers
Date: 26/05/2023
I had the opportunity to participate in the European Lawyers Association (ELA) annual meeting 2023 in Bratislava – Slovakia. In such context, several International lawyers coming from many European countries gathered to discuss topical legal subject matters. The event was hosted at the Faculty of Law of Bratislava University. Professors of this University and prominent lawyers were the lecturers. One of the main topics was the ‘fight against corruption and commercial fraud’ in the East Europe countries belonging to the EU (Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria).
Most of the speakers insisted on the fact that in consideration of the increasing number of this kind of criminal offences’ new tools of intervention should be put into action. Also, the role of the European Public Prosecutor 
Office (EPPO) was mentioned and discussed by the attendees coming from almost all European states. I took advantage of that occasion to talk about our STEPPO Programme. Most of the participants showed a huge interest in the innovative content of STEPPO and announced they are going to promote the knowledge of the European Public Prosecutors Office in their countries more in detail and contribute to the STEPPO 2024 edition. With this regard, the ELA Board of Directors decided to invite me to the next ELA Board Meeting that will take place in Luxembourg in November 2023 to discuss further options for collaboration between ELA and STEPPO programme.