The European Parliament and member states have approved the creation of a European Union agency to fight money laundering and the financing of terrorism, without yet deciding on the location of its future headquarters, which is wanted by several countries, including France and Germany, AFP reported .
The new authority, known by its English abbreviation AMLA (Anti-money laundering authority), will be responsible for the supervision and coordination of national authorities in order to better detect and combat suspicious cross-border activities.
Equipped with supervisory and sanctioning powers to ensure compliance with European financial rules, it will directly supervise around forty credit and financial institutions considered to be the most risky, including service providers related to cryptoassets.
"The anti-money laundering law will change the rules of the game in the fight against dirty money in the EU," praised the Spanish co-author of the text, Eva Maria Popcheva (Renew, liberals).
Better countering illegal transactions should help make it harder to finance terrorist attacks in Europe.
The new European agency "will also play a decisive role in preventing the circumvention of financial sanctions, such as those against Russia," Popcheva stressed.
According to data from the European police agency Europol, suspicious financial activities represent about 1% of the gross domestic product of the EU, or about 130 billion euros.
The creation of the new body was proposed by the European Commission in July 2021.
The political agreement reached on this project still needs to be formally approved by the members of the European Parliament in a plenary session and by the Council of the EU, which unites the 27 countries.
The European Parliament and the Council will also have to decide which city will house the future AMLA and its 250 or so staff. They are currently discussing the rules of the selection process.
Nine cities submitted their applications to the European Commission by the November 10 deadline: Paris, Brussels, Frankfurt, Dublin, Madrid, Rome, Riga, Vilnius and Vienna.
"The co-legislators intend to organize hearings with the candidates who have shown interest," the European Parliament said in a statement. /BGNES
