In the wake of recent banking scandals, several MEPs called for the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing to be reinforced, during a debate at the European Parliament on Wednesday 3 October on recent legislative proposals by the European Commission in this area (see EUROPE 12094).
However, opinions differ concerning the type of measures to be taken and the level at which to take them. “We must act”, as we are only as strong as our weakest link, said Luděk Niedermayer (EPP, Czech Republic). However, he went on to stress that there is not necessarily any need to give the competent authorities any new powers. Jeppe Kofod (S&D, Denmark) considers, on the contrary, that there should be a reflection on creating a dedicated European authority. Petr Ježek (ALDE, Czech Republic) said that new responsibilities should be accompanied by new resources, as the 'small' member states do not necessarily have the capacity to detect all infringements.
“When are you going to launch infringement procedures against countries not complying with the EU rules”, Sven Giegold (Greens/EFA, Germany) asked the competent Commissioner, Vera Jourova. Rina Ronja Kari (GUE/NGL, Denmark) considers that the political response to the scandals, such as that of the Estonian subsidiary of Danske Bank, is too vague. We need to get to the root of the problem and put an end to banks that are 'too big to fail'.
The Austrian Presidency of the Council of the EU, which arranged a ministerial debate at the Ecofin Council earlier this week (see EUROPE 12108), regretted the fact that compliance with the 'anti-money-laundering' rules is not always effectively controlled throughout the EU. It promised decisions by December.
At the beginning of the week, the Commission asked Malta to take specific measures on the basis of the recommendations made by the European Banking Authority in July (see EUROPE 12061). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)