Amended proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the prevention of money laundering by means of customs cooperation (presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 250 (2) of the EC Treaty)
Date: 2003-07-01
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: customs fraud, customs regulations, drafting of EU law, fraud, money laundering

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 1.7.2003
COM(2003) 371 final

2002/0132 (COD)

Amended proposal for a

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE
COUNCIL

on the prevention of money laundering by means of customs cooperation

(presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 250 (2) of the EC Treaty)

2002/0132 (COD)

Proposal for a

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE
COUNCIL

on the prevention of money laundering by means of customs cooperation

1.

BACKGROUND

Transmission  of  the  Proposal  to  the  Council  and  the  European  Parliament
(COM(2002)  328  final  -2002/0132(COD)  in  accordance  with  Article  251(2)  of  the
Treaty - 25 June 2002

Opinion of the European Parliament - first reading: 15 May 2003

2.

OBJECTIVE OF THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL

The  main  objective  of  the  proposal  is  to  supplement  Directive  91/308/EEC,  which
establishes  a  system  of  supervision  of  and  information  on  monetary  transactions  by
financial  and  credit  institutions  (later  extended  to  other  professionals).  The  proposal
concerns  controls  on  sums  of  money  transported  across  borders.  It  has  two  main
components:  introducing  an  obligation  to  declare  movements  of  sums  of  money  of
EUR 15 000 or more across the Community's external borders and transmission to the
competent  authorities  of  information  on  transactions  in  which  money  laundering  is
suspected.

3.

COMMISSION  OPINION  ON  THE  AMENDMENTS  ADOPTED  BY
THE PARLIAMENT

Of  the  23  amendments  adopted  by  Parliament,  eight  of  which  are  of  substance,  the
rest are only adjustments to the wording - two (amendments 13 and 15) are accepted
in their entirety by the Commission, and three (2, 11 and 21) are accepted in part.

3.1

Amendments accepted by the Commission

Amendment 13 (Article 2(3)(b)) proposes replacing the words "traveller's cheques or
postal cheques" with the word "cheques" in the definition of cash in Article 2(3)(b).
The  Commission  accepts  this  technical  amendment  since  it  considers  that  the  term
proposed is more generic and preferable to the distinction between types of cheque.

Amendment  15  (second  subparagraph  of  Article  3  (1))  proposes  adding  a  short
phrase linking Article 6 with Article 1 of Directive 91/308 in order to specify clearly
which are the competent authorities to whom the information is to be transmitted. The
Commission  accepts  this  amendment  since  Article  1  of  the  Directive  defines  the
competent authorities.

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3.2

Amendments accepted in part by the Commission

Amendment  2  (recital  6)  would  cite  Article  95  of  the  EC  Treaty  as  a  further  legal
basis in addition to Article 135, already cited in the proposal. Article 95 concerns the
approximation of the laws, regulations  and administrative  provisions  of the Member
States  that  directly  affect  the  establishment  and  functioning  of  the  internal  market.
The  Commission  accepts  the  addition  of  this  legal  basis,  since  it  agrees  that  in
addition  to  customs  supervision  of  movements  of  money,  and  the  exchange  of
information between the customs authorities of Member States, which fall within the
scope  of  Article  135,  the  establishment  of  uniform  measures  for  the  application  of
controls  may  also  fall  within  the  scope  of  Article  95  in  that  it  contributes  to  the
functioning  of  the  internal  market.  Furthermore,  this  provision  would  maintain  a
parallel with Directive 91/308, which is based on Articles 47 and 95.

Amendment  11  (second  paragraph  of  Article  4)  proposes  limiting  the  extension  of
the  period  for  which  cash  may  be  held  by  the  competent  authorities  to  a  single
occasion of not more than one month. The Commission can accept the time limit on
the extension, in the interests of the protection of the persons transporting the cash.

Amendment 21 (Article 7) alters the name of the Official Journal as a consequence of
the entry into force of the Treaty of Nice.

3.3

Amended proposal

In  conclusion,  having  regard  to  Article  250  (2),  of  the  EC  Treaty,  the  Commission
modifies its proposal as indicated above.

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