COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION update

 

06/12/2022 22:50 | Press release Prime Minister Fiala attends meeting of EU and Western Balkan leaders in Tirana, Albania On Tuesday, 6 December 2022, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Petr Fiala attended a summit of EU Member States and Western Balkan countries in Tirana, Albania. The main topics of the meeting included cooperation in the energy sector in the context of the Russian war in Ukraine, the fight against illegal migration and deepening the integration of the Western Balkans into the European single market. The leaders also made progress in aligning the visa policies of the Western Balkan countries with those of the EU. During the summit, the so-called Tirana Declaration was adopted.

'Press release


6 December 202222:50

Prime Minister Fiala attends meeting of EU and Western Balkan leaders in Tirana, Albania


© EU

On Tuesday, 6 December 2022, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Petr Fiala attended a summit of EU Member States and Western Balkan countries in Tirana, Albania. The main topics of the meeting included cooperation in the energy sector in the context of the Russian war in Ukraine, the fight against illegal migration and deepening the integration of the Western Balkans into the European single market. The leaders also made progress in aligning the visa policies of the Western Balkan countries with those of the EU. During the summit, the so-called Tirana Declaration was adopted.


At the summit, the leaders reaffirmed their unequivocal commitment to future membership in the European Union for the entire Western Balkans region. The stability of these countries is also crucial for the security of the Czech Republic. There are also many opportunities here for Czech companies. "I therefore consider it a success that this exceptional summit took place during the Czech Presidency. Over the past months, we have achieved a number of concrete successes during the Presidency on issues that had been blocked at the European level for many years. For example, we have managed to launch accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia and to adopt a decision on visa liberalisation with Kosovo," said Prime Minister Fiala after the summit.

The issues of migration, terrorism and organised crime were among the key points of the meeting. The EU has significantly increased its support to the region to address these issues. "To this end, the EU has adopted a new €40 million programme to strengthen border management and is preparing a second programme to increase capacity to fight migrant smuggling and human trafficking. In the area of migration, we have made significant progress in aligning the visa policies of the Western Balkan countries with those of the EU. The more this process progresses, the more the routes that have been used for illegal migration to Europe will be closed," Prime Minister Fiala commented after the meeting.

The Summit also addressed a number of issues related to the impact of Russia's aggression against Ukraine. The Presidents and Prime Ministers of the EU and Western Balkan countries agreed that Russia bears sole responsibility for the current energy and economic crisis. An important outcome of the summit is the €1 billion energy support package for the Western Balkans. This can bring an additional investment of up to €2.5 billion, but also mitigate the impact of the energy crisis on those most vulnerable. The funds will be available from January 2023. €500 million in grants will go to immediate budget support, namely €165 million for Serbia, €80 million for Albania and North Macedonia, €75 million for Kosovo and €70 million for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"We have also invited the Balkan countries to join our platform for joint gas purchases. I believe that this will bring lower gas prices for all of us," said Petr Fiala.

On the side-lines of the summit, an agreement was also reached on the reduction of roaming charges between the EU and the Western Balkan countries, which will come into force in October 2023. It was signed in Tirana in the presence of top EU officials by representatives of telecom operators from the region.

At the end of the summit, the leaders adopted the so-called Tirana Declaration.

Press material Wednesday 7 December 2022

● Council of the EU   07/12/2022 11:29 | Press release | Anti-money laundering: Council agrees its position on a strengthened rulebook   The EU continues its fight to protect EU citizens and the EU's financial system against money laundering and terrorist financing. In order to enlarge the scope of the existing regulatory framework and to close possible loopholes, today the Council agreed its position on an anti-money laundering (AML) regulation and a new directive (AMLD6). Together with the proposal for a recast of the transfer of funds regulation, on which an agreement has already been reached with the European Parliament, these will form the new EU AML rulebook once adopted. "Terrorists and those who finance them are not welcome in Europe. In order to launder dirty money, criminal individuals and organisations had to look for loopholes in our existing rules which are already quite strict. But our intention is to close these loopholes further, and to apply even stricter rules in all EU member states. Large cash payments beyond €10.000 will become impossible. Trying to stay anonymous when buying or selling crypto-assets will become much more difficult. Hiding behind multiple layers of ownership of companies won’t work any more. It will even become difficult to launder dirty money via jewellers or goldsmiths." Zbyněk Stanjura, Minister for Finance of Czechia The new EU anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) rules will be extended to the entire crypto sector, obliging all crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) to conduct due diligence on their customers. This means that they will have to verify facts and information about their customers. In its position, the Council demands CASPs to apply customer due diligence measures when carrying out transactions amounting to €1000 or more, and adds measures to mitigate risks in relation to transactions with self-hosted wallets. The Council also introduced specific enhanced due diligence measures for cross-border correspondent relationships for crypto-asset service providers. Third-party financing intermediaries, persons trading in precious metals, precious stones and cultural goods, will also be subject to the obligations of the regulation, as will jewellers, horologists and goldsmiths. By limiting large cash payments, the EU will make it harder for criminals to launder dirty money. An EU-wide maximum limit of €10.000 is set for cash payments. Member states will have the flexibility to impose a lower maximum limit if they wish. Third countries that are listed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF, the international standard setter in anti-money laundering) will also be listed by the EU. There will accordingly be two EU lists, a “black list” and a “grey list”, reflecting the FATF listings. The Commission will not be required to redo the identification process performed by the FATF. This is to ensure that FATF lists are transcribed in a timely manner and to avoid wasting resources. Once a third country appears on one of these lists, the EU will apply measures proportionate to the risks posed by the country. In its position, the Council decided to make beneficial ownership rules more transparent and to harmonise them more. In particular, the Council clarifies that beneficial ownership is based on two components – ownership and control – which need to be analysed in order to assess how control is exercised over a legal entity, and to identify all natural persons who are the beneficial owners of that legal entity. Related rules applicable to multi-layered ownership and control structures are also clarified. The Council also spells out further how to identify and verify the identity of beneficial owners across types of entities, including non-EU entities. Data protection and record retention provisions are also clarified. This is expected to make the work of the competent authorities easier and faster. Member states should ensure that any natural or legal person that can demonstrate a legitimate interest has access to information held in the beneficial ownership registers, and such persons should include those journalists and civil society organisations that are connected with the prevention and combating of money laundering and terrorist financing. The package also foresees i.a. the clarification of outsourcing provisions, the clarification of the powers of supervisors, a minimum set of information to which all financial intelligence units (national centres for the receipt and analysis of suspicious transaction reports and relevant money laundering information) should have access, as well as improved cooperation among authorities. Background On 20 July 2021, the Commission presented its package of legislative proposals to strengthen the EU’s rules on anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT). This package consists of: a regulation establishing a new EU anti-money laundering authority (AMLA) which will have powers to impose sanctions and penalties a regulation recasting the regulation on transfers of funds which aims to make transfers of crypto-assets more transparent and fully traceable a regulation on anti-money-laundering requirements for the private sector a directive on anti-money-laundering mechanisms Now that the Council has agreed its position on the anti-money laundering regulation and directive, it is ready to start trilogue negotiations with the European Parliament in order to agree on a final version of the texts. Regulation on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing: Mandate for negotiations with the European Parliament Annexes to the AML regulation Directive on the mechanisms to be put in place by the member states for the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing and repealing directive Anti-money laundering: Provisional agreement reached on transparency of crypto asset transfers (press release, 29 June 2022) Progress report on anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism of 7 June 2022 Fight against money laundering and terrorist financing (background information)