Answer given by Ms Albuquerque on behalf of the European Commission
15.5.2025
In line with the Anti-Money Laundering Directive[1] and the methodology[2] for identifying high risk third countries, the lists of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) are the baseline for the EU list of high risk third countries. The European Commission is a founding member of the FATF setting the Anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) standards globally. The Commission also autonomously lists third countries posing a specific and serious threat to the EU’s financial system. In the future, the revised policy on third countries[3] will continue to rely on the FATF listings as a baseline. Under the new framework on Anti-money laundering agreed in 2024[4], countermeasures and enhanced due diligence measures will be more detailed and tailor made for each listed country. This will mean an effective, consistent and harmonised mitigating response at EU level. Such granular identification would, in line with the risk-based approach, also ensure that the measures are proportionate to the level of risk.
As regard the next update of the EU list, the Commission remains committed to adopt an updated EU list of high risk third countries as soon as possible in order to protect the EU financial system. In the past months, the Commission has been working with relevant third countries and with the European Parliament to address the concerns raised by the European Parliament in its resolution rejecting the latest EU list in April 2024.
- [1] OJ L 156, 19.6.2018, p. 43-74, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32018L0843 .
- [2] SWD(2020)0099 final, https://finance.ec.europa.eu/document/download/f745b6e8-735b-4855-b050-f52276356fe6_en?filename=200507-anti-money-laundering-terrorism-financing-action-plan-methodology_en.pdf .
- [3] Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2024 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, OJ L, 2024/1624, 19.6.2024.
- [4] Latest update on Anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism legislative package — European Commission https://finance.ec.europa.eu/news/latest-update-anti-money-laundering-and-countering-financing-terrorism-legislative-package-2024-04-24_en.