02/02/2021 (Agence Europe) – The European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) adopted on Monday 1 February, by 47 votes in favour, 4 against and 8 abstentions, its opinion on the agreement on future relations between the EU and the United Kingdom (see EUROPE 12628/6). The text, which takes the form of a letter, regrets that taxation and the fight against money laundering are not part of the rebalancing mechanism of the agreement, which allows for an alignment of evolving standards (see EUROPE 12648/11). It also emphasises the need for the framework for future EU-UK regulatory cooperation in financial services to be underpinned by “strong commitments to prevent tax fraud, aggressive tax evasion and money laundering”. The opinion is headed for the AFET and INTA committees and will be presented to them on Thursday 4 February. (MF)