On 19 January, the MEPs adopted the position of Parliament's committee on civil liberties and economic and monetary affairs, which in December rejected the blacklist of eleven countries (North Korea, Guiana, Iran, Afghanistan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Iraq, Laos, Syria, Uganda, Vanuatu and Yemen), whose systems to fight money laundering and the financing of terrorism present shortcomings that threaten the European financial system.
The fourth anti-money laundering directive, which was adopted in 2015, authorises the European Commission to identify high-risk third countries. This list was published in July of last year (see EUROPE 11586), in the form of a delegated act. Under the anti-money laundering directive, banks and other operators are obliged to apply strict transparency and control standards when doing business with countries on this list due to the risks these countries present regarding money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
In particular, the MEPs criticised the fact that the Commission has simply copied the list of the FATF (OECD task force).
"The European Parliament has today given the Commission clear instruction that it must conduct its own assessment, rather than relying solely on external information (…). The Commission needs to go to back to the drawing board and conduct a much more ambitious, thorough and autonomous analysis of which countries are high-risk", explained Judith Sargentini (Greens/EFA, Netherlands), co-rapporteur on the revision of the anti-money laundering directive. "It is ridiculous that Panama (…) is not on the Commission's blacklist", said her German colleague Sven Giegold, who thinks the Commission should allocate more than just six members of staff to its 'financial crime' unit.
Then GUE/NGL group, which initiated the move to reject the list, welcomed the fact that the plenary had responded positively to its request. Fabio de Masi of Germany stressed the need to get serious in the work to counter money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
The resolution was adopted by 393 votes in favour, 67 against and 210 abstentions. The previous list will remain in force for the time being. (Original version in French by Élodie Lamer)