Dr Marianne Wade delivered a paper on ensuring accountability to the EU Council Presidency Meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania on the 16th September 2013. The Lithuanian Presidency hosted a conference to review, analyse and discuss the European Commission’s recent proposal for a European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) with member state, European Commission and Council representatives. Dr Wade was amongst a handful of academic experts invited to address the conference as well as to participate in this dialogue.

The proposed European Public Prosecutor’s Office is an extremely controversial proposed EU measure because it lays out plans for a first truly supra-national criminal justice agency at the EU level. This Presidency conference was therefore intended to assist the member states in preparing for the on-going, difficult negotiations in Council. The inclusion of academics such as Dr Wade acknowledged the value of their research in this field and the crucial role academic study, analysis and understanding has in shaping opinion and informing decision-making in this difficult field.

Dr Wade has conducted the only large-scale, pan-European empirical study examining the problems facing European criminal justice, solutions already in place and potential developments such as the EPPO.

Full details can be found at the conference website