07/06/2018 (Agence Europe) – On Thursday 7 June, the ambassadors of the member states, meeting within Coreper, confirmed the inter-institutional agreement reached one week earlier (see EUROPE 12031) on the directive on tackling money laundering through criminal law. The text sets out a maximum prison sentence of at least four years and a number of alternative penalties for the infringements listed in the directive, such as a temporary or permanent exclusion from access to public financing. “These new rules are another building block in the EU's overall plan to stem the flow of money available to criminals”, said the Bulgarian Minister, Tsetska Tsacheva. The agreement must now be approved by the plenary session of the European Parliament; the member states will then have 24 months to transpose the new provisions into their national legislation. (MF)