Question 20 March 2025 Alexander Sell (ESN)
Subject: Need for an updated list of high-risk countries in the annex to Directive (EU) 2018/843
Parliament rejected the Commission Delegated Regulation of 14 March 2024 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1675 as regards adding Kenya and Namibia to the table in point I of the Annex and deleting Barbados, Gibraltar, Panama, Uganda and the United Arab Emirates from that table.
In its resolution, Parliament called on the Commission to submit a new delegated act. However, as of today, the most recent version of the list of high-risk non-EU countries remains dated 12 December 2023.
Directive (EU) 2018/843 on combating money laundering and terrorist financing requires an up-to-date list of high-risk non-EU countries. This list must be regularly updated, not only to add new high-risk countries but also to remove those that no longer present strategic deficiencies in anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT).
Given the above considerations:
- 1.Is the Commission considering aligning its methodology with that of the Financial Action Task Force by establishing a ‘blacklist’ for non-EU countries subject to a call for action and a ‘grey list’ for those actively working to address their strategic AML/CFT deficiencies?
- 2.When does the Commission intend to present a new proposal for a delegated act to update the list?
Answer 15 May 2025 Commissioner Albuquerque
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.
[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.
[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.