Council of the EU calls for even closer cooperation to combat money laundering

In December the Council of the EU presented its conclusions on strategic priorities in the combat against money laundering and terrorist financing. In these conclusions, the Council first welcomed the progress made in recent years, in particular the adoption of the Fifth Money Laundering Directive, the Directive on the combat against money laundering under criminal law and the Directive on the facilitation of the use of financial information to combat crime.

However, the Council also calls for even closer cooperation between the Member States' authorities. An improvement here would make the existing legal framework more efficient. The Council therefore calls on the Commission to amend the legal framework here if existing law impede such cooperation. This could also be implemented by means of regulations. The Council also proposes to evaluate the possibility of entrusting the overall monitoring of the fight against money laundering to an independent Union body.

From now on, the Commission shall report to the Council on progress every six months.