WRITTEN QUESTION E-1914/02 by Maurizio Turco (NI) to the Commission. The euro: Vatican City State (VCS) and money laundering.
Date: 2002-07-02
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Holy See, central bank, financial management, management audit, money laundering, national law, recycling of capital

17.4.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 92 E/117

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(17 September 2002)

None of the banks in the Vatican State have direct access to Target. There is one bank (Instituto di Opere
de Religione) which is an indirect participant (1) and which has two channels of access, via a major German
and a major Italian bank which are themselves linked to the system.

Since the banking authorities impose controls only where there is direct access, the issue of whether
Article 11 of the Lateran Treaty is compatible with Community law does not arise.

(1) An indirect participant is an institution which does not have its own account in a Real-Time Gross Settlement
(RTGS) system but which is nonetheless acknowledged by a national RTGS system and covered by its rules, and
which may be directly accessible within Target. All the transactions of an indirect participant are carried out on the
account of a participant which has agreed to represent the indirect participant.

(2003/C 92 E/165)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1914/02

by Maurizio Turco (NI) to the Commission

(2 July 2002)

Subject: The euro: Vatican City State (VCS) and money laundering

Aware that:

(cid:1) Under the Monetary Agreement between the Italian Republic, on behalf of the European Union, and

the Vatican City State and, on its behalf, the Holy See (1), the VCS is authorised to issue euros.

(cid:1) The only bank operating within the SCV is the central bank, the ‘Istituto per le Opere di Religione’

(IOR).

(cid:1) The Commission is a member of, and Europol has observer status within, the Financial Action Task

Force on Money Laundering (FATF) set up by the OECD.

(cid:1) During the 1980s a huge money-laundering operation involving among others the Pope’s delegate in

charge of the IOR, the American bishop Paul Marcinkus, was brought to light.

(cid:1) In October 2000 an attempt was made to defraud the Sicilian regional authorities of USD 400 million
in European funds, which allegedly would then have been laundered through various banks, including
the IOR (Arresting Transnational Crime (cid:1) an electronic journal of the US Department of State,
August 2001, Volume 6, Number 2).

(cid:1) On 10 June 1984, the Turks and Caicos Islands were taken out of the Diocese of Nassau (Bahamas)
and proclaimed a Missio Sui Iuris. The same happened to the Cayman Islands (which formed part of
the Diocese of Kingston (Jamaica)) on 14 July 2000. The American cardinal Theodore Edgar
McCarrick was appointed Superior for the Turks and Caicos on 21 September 2001, while the
American cardinal Adam Maida, member of the IOR Supervisory Board, is Superior for the Cayman
Islands. Both groups of islands are among the world’s best-known offshore financial centres.

Given the above, would the Commission state:

(cid:1) whether any anti-money laundering laws that enable the origin of funds deposited to be traced are in

force in the VCS;

(cid:1) whether any checks have been run by international organisations on the VCS’s banking, economic and

financial systems and, if so, what conclusions were reached;

(cid:1) what steps it intends to take to guard against money laundering by banks located in the VCS?

(1) OJ C 299, 25.10.2001, p. 1.

C 92 E/118

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

17.4.2003

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(9 September 2002)

The Vatican City State (VCS) is an independent State and is not a member of the European Union.
Community legislation is not applicable in the VCS.

The Commission is not aware of any anti-money laundering law in force in the VCS. However, as noted by
the Honourable Member, the only bank operating in the VCS, the Istituto per le Opere di Religione, is also
the Central Bank. Thus, since there is no commercial financial sector in the VCS, the scope for the
application of normal anti-money laundering rules covering the financial system would appear to be
necessarily limited.

The Commission is not aware of any examination by international organisations of the VCS’s banking,
economic and financial systems.

(2003/C 92 E/166)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1927/02

by Torben Lund (PSE) to the Commission

(3 July 2002)

Subject: Ban on amalgam and mercury for human use

Fresh research shows that the use of amalgam for tooth fillings and mercury for other human applications,
e.g. vaccines, entails substantial health risks. Mercury damages the nervous system and can cause arthralgia,
myalgia and severe allergic reactions.

Recent scientific material seems to indicate that mercury in influenza vaccines may promote the
development of Alzheimer’s disease in the elderly. Furthermore, the use of mercury represents a serious
environmental waste problem.

In the light of the above, will the Commission say what measures have already been taken in the EU to
protect the public and the environment from the harmful effects of mercury for human use?

What measures does the Commission intend to take? Is the Commission prepared to ban the use of
amalgam and mercury for human use on health and environmental grounds? Can the Commission confirm
that waste mercury from dental clinics is destroyed in sealed containers marked ‘highly toxic’. If not, how
is waste mercury from dental treatment dealt with?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(26 August 2002)

On 20 June 2002 the Parliament’s Petitions Committee closed a petition in the light of the results of a
study on dental amalgam and other restorative materials ordered by the Commission and published in
1998. According to this study, all dental restorative materials may cause some adverse reactions, and most
contain components that are toxic. However, according to the same study, the benefits of restoring teeth
with dental amalgam that contains mercury significantly out-weigh the documented risks and the risk-
benefit ratio corresponds to currently acknowledged and accepted state of the art.

Given concerns expressed, Commission and Member States representatives decided to proceed to a review
of the study’s conclusions in the light of new data available at a national level. In their meeting of 11 and
12 July 2002, they confirmed that the study’s conclusions are still valid and accurate.