In a public statement in early June, Hungary asked the European Commission to review the EU’s ‘black’ list of high-risk third countries for money laundering before its entry into force on 1 October so that “progress made by the third countries concerned in the meantime [is] duly taken into account”.
On 7 May the Commission presented a new delegated act (see EUROPE 12481/6) updating its list, mainly to align it with that of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
The EU Council and the European Parliament had 1 month to oppose the list. The deadline expired without objection on Monday 8 June, two sources confirmed.
Nevertheless, the Commission had specified, when presenting its delegated act, that the addition of third countries to the list would only be effective from 1 October 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Hungary fully supports the idea of the update”, a diplomatic source told us on Tuesday 9 June, but the country believes “it would be important to review the proposal in light of the expected developments on the international field before the proposed list enters into force in October”.
In the declaration, Hungary also welcomes the new Commission methodology presented in May (see EUROPE 12482/8). The country is of the opinion that the “revised methodology strikes the appropriate balance between swift action and the need to consult with all stakeholders [EU member states and third countries]”, the same source said.
See the statement: https://bit.ly/2Y9JQIk (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)