On Wednesday 28 June, the national ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) reached a political agreement in principle on the proposed regulation aiming to tighten up controls on cash entering or leaving the European Union (see EUROPE 11694).
“Terrorist networks take advantage of anonymity of cash payment transactions. That is why we need an effective system of cash declarations that can help authorities to better prevent and fight against illegal activities”, said the Maltese finance minister, Edward Scicluna, on behalf of the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the EU.
The draft regulation, which was presented as part of the European action plan to fight the financing of terrorism (see EUROPE 11481), and which will replace the legislation in force, extends the customs declaration requirements for sums greater than €10,000 currently in force to other payment instruments and methods (cheques, precious materials such as gold, prepaid cards).
Also to be covered by the scope of application of the future regulation will be dispatches of cash by post or freight (‘unaccompanied cash’). In these cases, however, the customs authorities will have powers to request a written or electronic statement from the issuer or recipient. They will also be authorised to carry out checks on all types of dispatch.
Four member states wish to go further
On Wednesday, Belgium, France and Portugal got behind a Spanish statement arguing that the compromise text on unaccompanied cash does not go far enough.
“While there is an obligation to declare the movements of €10,000 or more crossing the European borders when the cash is carried by a natural person, the proposed regulation only provides a disclosure declaration that may be asked by the competent authorities when the same cash is moved in non-accompanied baggage or freight”, reads the statement by the Spanish authorities, which goes on to argue that “without a mandatory condition to declare the unaccompanied cash for an amount of €10,000 or more, such provision will lose its effectiveness”.
However, the text gives the member states the option to apply stricter controls than those provided for by European legislation.
Additionally, the political agreement in principle provides for the member states to exchange information on transfers of cash when these transfers appear related to criminal activity. This information will also be notified to the Commission.
With this political agreement, the member states are ready to start negotiations with the European Parliament, where work within the committee on civil liberties has fallen behind pace. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)