A tense exchange between some Members of the European Parliament and representatives of the European Commission and the Council of the EU took place on Wednesday 23 November during a plenary debate in Strasbourg on the fight against money laundering and circumvention of sanctions, following the revelations in ‘Cyprus Confidential’ (see EUROPE 13293/3).
Sophie In 't Veld MEP (Renew Europe, Dutch), in particular, spoke out vehemently against the Commission Vice-President for Democracy and Demography, Dubravka Šuica, and the Spanish Secretary of State for Foreign and Global Affairs, Ángeles Moreno Bau.
In her view, the EU Treaties not only make the Commission responsible for transposing European laws, but also for applying them. “The European Commission is not doing its job, you are relying exclusively on the national authorities to do their duty”, she said.
“When it comes to corruption and financial malpractice, national authorities are very often the culprits, they are complicit, they are involved, and it happens right under your nose”, she continued. She condemned the Commission for its “narrow interpretation of the legislation”.
Saskia Bricmont (Greens/EFA, Belgian), Pirkko Ruohonen-Lerner (ECR, Finnish) and Luděk Niedermayer (EPP, Czech) called on the Commission to strengthen legislation, in particular by banning golden visas and invalidating passports (see EUROPE 13151/15).
Eero Heinäluoma (S&D, Finnish) insisted that Russian money was “a threat to European security”. He particularly blamed the entire financial system. “Strict and effective anti-money laundering rules will make Europe fairer and safer, that’s what our voters expect from us”, he stressed, in his capacity as negotiator for the European Parliament of the strengthened anti-money laundering regulation (see EUROPE 13292/24).
On the Commission side, Ms Šuica listed all the measures already taken or in progress, including the anti-money laundering package currently being negotiated and the twelfth package of sanctions against Russia (see EUROPE 13293/1).
She said she was closely monitoring developments in Cyprus. Following an infringement procedure launched in June, the Member State took action and on Tuesday 14 November presented its electronic system for registering beneficial owners, which is due to be rolled out by 2024.
“It is essential that we remain vigilant to any violation or attempt at circumvention that could weaken the intended impact of the sanctions”, the Commissioner stressed, assuring us that she “takes any allegation of circumvention seriously”.
For her part, Moreno Bau reaffirmed “the EU Council’s shared commitment to the implementation of a more robust framework benefiting from increased surveillance”.
Ms In 't Veld wished to conclude the debate by criticising the lack of response from the Commission and EU Council representatives, and accused them of lack of respect for the European Parliament. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)