At their meeting in Luxembourg on 10 October, European Finance Ministers will discuss the next reforms to improve the fight against money laundering. According to a note from the Finnish Presidency of the Council of the EU, dated 30 September and prepared for the meeting, they will be invited to comment on the idea of creating a new EU body dedicated to this task.
In its December 2018 Action Plan, the EU Council invited the Commission to carry out a ex post review of major money laundering scandals in the EU, to identify gaps in the current framework. The European Commission published this report on 24 July last (see EUROPE 12303/2) and concluded that several shortcomings could be eliminated by recent legislative improvements such as the 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive or the new powers granted to the European Banking Authority (see EUROPE 12161/11). However, for some shortcomings, it considered that further progress should be made and that further reforms will be necessary.
The Ministers’ discussion will thus serve as a basis for future EU Council conclusions on a strategic agenda on combating money laundering, which the Presidency intends to have adopted on 5 December and which will in turn feed into the Commission's work.
“Is the creation of a new EU body a valid way forward, or is any existing body the best option? Which tasks could be envisaged for such a body, and what would be the appropriate governance model?”, asks the Finnish Presidency in its note.
The idea of a new EU body already has the support of several actors. The European Parliament has encouraged a discussion on this issue and the Single Supervisory Committee of the European Central Bank has publicly called for the creation of such an authority, while indicating that it does not itself want to take on this role (see EUROPE 11989/9). In his answers to written questions from MEPs for his hearing in the European Parliament (see EUROPE 12337/12), the Executive Vice-President appointed for ‘An economy at the service of people’, Valdis Dombrovskis, himself supported the idea of entrusting this task to an EU body.
But the transfer of supervisory powers at EU level is still a sensitive issue for Member States, as shown by the review of the European financial supervision architecture (see EUROPE 12219/6). The debate will thus make it possible to test their real appetite for such an idea.
According to the note, ministers will also be invited to comment on the possibility of further harmonisation in this area by legislating through a regulation rather than a directive, as well as on the creation of a coordination and support mechanism for financial intelligence units.
They should also discuss the scope of the reforms that will be needed, including whether they should apply only to the financial sector or to other sub-sectors, such as banks, investment firms and insurance, or whether a separate approach for the non-financial sector should be considered. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)