Answer given by Ms McGuinness on behalf of the European Commission
13.4.2023
The Commission does not comment on ongoing criminal investigations. Allegations of criminal conduct are for the national law enforcement and judicial authorities to address.
1. The Commission has assessed the money laundering and countering terrorist financing risk of, among others, non-governmental organisations (NGOs)[1]. The Commission has consistently established that for NGOs receiving institutional EU funding, the level of money laundering/terrorist financing threat and vulnerability are considered as ‘less significant’.
The Commission stands by these assessments[2].
2. Effective enforcement of criminal and anti-money laundering rules, including the investigation of particular cases, is the responsibility of Member States.
Furthermore, as announced in the 2022 State of the Union address and confirmed in the Commission Work Programme 2023[3], the Commission is working on measures to update the EU legislative framework for fighting corruption.
3. NGOs are not considered obliged entities under the 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive[4] or under the international standards of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). However, NGOs are clients of other obliged entities (banks, lawyers and accountants, etc.) that are obliged entities themselves. Therefore, all the activities of NGOs are monitored by obliged entities and thus subject to customer due diligence[5].
- [1] COM(2022) 554 final.
- [2] NGOs, particularly those that have been assessed by the Commission, are subject to ongoing checks during the lifetime of the partnership and the specific humanitarian actions. These checks, which include detailed reporting on actions, obligations on record keeping, and regular audits both at headquarters and in the field, go beyond the strict eligibility and suitability criteria which are checked through a detailed selection process prior to the signature of the framework Partnership Certificate.
- [3] COM(2022)548 p 9 and 11 (https://commission.europa.eu/system/files/2022-10/com_2022_548_3_en.pdf) and https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/ov/SPEECH_22_5493).
- [4] Directive (EU) 2018/843 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 amending Directive (EU) 2015/849 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, and amending Directives 2009/138/EC and 2013/36/EU, OJ L 156, 19.6.2018, p. 43‐74.
- [5] This is the same approach followed for other legal entities, foundations and legal arrangements.