The call for more Europe in the area of measures against money laundering
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.60054/PEU.2021.8.78-88Keywords:
EU reform, anti-money laundering, financing of terrorismAbstract
On 20 July 2021 the European Commission published a new legislative package in the area of measures against money laundering and terrorist financing. The main aim of the package is to respond to the need for more Europe in that area. This need was declared by some European Parliament Resolutions, an Action Plan of the Commission from May 2020 as well as ECOFIN Conclusions in November 2020.
The call for more Europe was provoked by some cross-border money laundering cases that affected several EU Member States. The problem is similar to the one that initiated the establishment of the EU Banking Union -- EU Internal Market implementation of common rules in the fight against money laundering is currently fragmented by divergent national supervisory authorities and national financial intelligence units.
Some of the main amendments in that package in comparison to the current EU legal framework is a clear sign for more Europe. One of them is the proposal for the establishment of a new EU Authority that shall perform tasks and functions in the areas of measures against money laundering and terrorist financing. This Authority is planned to be called AMLA (Anti-Money Laundering Authority). Another important change will be the replacing of the current EU Directive by two legal acts -- a new Directive but also a new directly applicable Regulation where many of the current EU provisions will be transferred. However, the current call for more Europe in the area of anti-money laundering will not be easily adopted and implemented -- there are many legal, institutional and political factors and challenges in this new EU reform.
References
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