Anti-money laundering blacklist debate in European Parliament
Quote from Judith Sargentini
Today, on the initiative of the Greens/EFA group, the European Parliament will debate the "Urgency for an EU blacklist of third countries in line with the Anti-Money Laundering Directive". This comes after the news that EU Justice Ministers unanimously blocked the proposed anti-money laundering blacklist last week. The Greens/EFA group support the need for an effective blacklist to fight money laundering in the EU.
Judith Sargentini, Greens/EFA rapporteur on the Anti-Money Laundering Directive, comments:
"This blacklist is an essential tool to progress in the fight against corrupt cash and terrorist financing in Europe and it is a result of the Anti-Money Laundering Directive that the Member States have all signed up to. The fact that there has been so much lobbying from third countries around this blacklist is unacceptable.
"The Council must immediately go back to the drawing board and reassess its position to prove that EU Member States cannot be pushed around when it comes to protecting the integrity of our European Union from criminals, corruption and terrorism. By holding this debate today, the European Parliament is showing that it stands by the European Commission in enforcing the law and attempting to fight money laundering and we expect the Council to follow through on its obligations."
