At the committee on civil liberties of the European Parliament on Monday 14 May, rapporteur Ignazio Carrao (EFDD, Italy) took stock of the inter-institutional negotiations in trialogue on the directive on tackling money laundering through criminal law.
Right from the start of the negotiations in January, the representatives of the European institutions shared a determination to make rapid progress on this dossier (see EUROPE 11959). The rapporteur now hopes to wrap up the discussions at the next trialogue session, to be held in Strasbourg on 30 May, and to obtain a clear, effective and complete legislative text.
He went on to say that the Council just needs to make a few last efforts to reach an agreement, particularly on two delicate subjects: the seizure of goods and certain aggravating circumstances, such as the inclusion of politically exposed persons and virtual currencies, as called for by Parliament.
On these specific subjects, there will simply be references, but there may not be actual standards, it will be necessary to wait until the next legislative period, he said. He reiterated that the aim of the proposed directive was to harmonise the criminal systems of the member states and make money laundering a criminal offence throughout the EU, not tackling money laundering in general.
Parliament is also keen to clarify negative conflicts of jurisdiction, in other words when no member state wishes to start proceedings concerning a given offence.
The text currently on the table stipulates that when an offence is a matter for the competence of more than one member state, the countries concerned work together to decide which of them will bring proceedings against the suspect, on the basis of the following factors: - the territory in which the offence was committed; - the nationality or place of residence of the suspect; - the country of origin of the victims; - the territory in which the suspect was apprehended. If necessary, the question will then be put before Eurojust. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)