The opposition of the Member States to the new European list drawn up by the Commission of 23 non-EU countries whose anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing mechanisms are deficient and threaten the European financial system (see EUROPE 12193) proved to be much more extensive than expected on Thursday 28 February.
Twenty-seven Member States opposed it, breaking the silence procedure in the EU Council, a European source confirmed to EUROPE on Friday 1 March. The reinforced qualified majority, which requires 21 Member States representing at least 65% of the EU population, was therefore reached. The position of the only country that was not opposed - Belgium - may also not be a definitive position.
The subject was discussed this Friday in a working group, before formalising the position of the Member States at the meeting of their ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) on Wednesday 6 March. The official political decision is expected to be taken on Thursday 7 March at the meeting of European Home Affairs Ministers and could be accompanied by a political declaration, according to the same source.
What Member States criticise about the list is, above all, the new method used by the Commission, which resulted in a different list from the one drawn up by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) - which has been adopted by the EU until now.
A diplomatic source told us on Thursday that several countries had already expressed their reservations about the methodology to the Commission during the consultation phase. They reportedly also have pointed out that the dialogue with the countries on the list deserved to be reviewed, but the Commission did not take this into account.
On Friday, the European Commission's Deputy Chief Spokesperson, Mina Andreeva, refused to speculate on next steps and said the Commission “will assess the situation at the end of the procedure”. The official deadline for opposing the delegated regulation is 13 March.
In response to criticism, she recalled that Member States had been consulted on both the methodology and the draft list of countries published last year.
The European Parliament will also have its say. In a letter, posted online by Politico on Friday, some 30 MEPs from the S&D, Greens/EFA, ALDE and GUE/NGL groups asked the Commission to “resist any political pressures from Member States to modify it according to their political preferences”.
Member States cannot directly modify the list of countries as they wish. The only two options in this procedure are to accept or reject the list as a whole. Thus, once the decision to object has been taken by the EU Council, the Commission will have to review its version and propose a new delegated act. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)