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The European Commission has added seven countries, including Saudi Arabia, Panama and Nigeria to a blacklist of countries. which pose a threat because of lax controls on the financing of terrorism and money laundering.
The new countries targeted by the commission Wednesday join 16 others already on this register, bringing the total to 23.
The commission added that it added jurisdictions with "strategic shortcomings in their frameworks against money laundering and the financing of terrorism".
This measure is part of a crackdown on money laundering after several scandals that hit the banks of the European Union in recent months.
This, however, has drawn criticism from several EU Member States concerned about their economic relations with the states listed, including Saudi Arabia.
"We have set the world's strictest standards in the fight against money laundering, but we have to make sure that dirty money from other countries does not get in. our financial system ", Vera Jourova, European Commissioner for Justice, said in a statement.
"Dirty money is the cornerstone of organized crime and terrorism," she added, urging countries on the list to "quickly fix their problems." deficiencies ".
The 28 EU Member States now have one month, which can be extended to two, to approve the list. They could reject it by qualified majority.
Jourova, who proposed the list, said at a press conference in Strasbourg that she was confident that states would not block it.
The inclusion on the list does not trigger sanctions, but forces European banks to apply stricter controls to transactions with customers and institutions in these countries.
"Russia and the United Kingdom disappeared"
Brussels has also added to its list Libya, Botswana, Ghana, Samoa, the Bahamas and the four territories of the United States of America: American Samoa, the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Guam.
The other states mentioned are Afghanistan, North Korea, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia and Yemen.
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Guyana, Laos, Uganda and Vanuatu were removed.
Despite pressure to exclude Riyadh from the list, the commission decided to register the kingdom, confirming the Reuters report released in January.
The move comes as tensions between Riyadh and European capitals intensify following the murder of editorialist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate last year.
The Saudi government's press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Reuters news agency.
Critics said the list did not include several countries involved in money laundering scandals in Europe.
"Some of the biggest dirty money washing machines are still missing – they include Russia, the city of London and its offshore territories, as well as Azerbaijan," said Green's lawmaker. EU, Sven Giegold, Member of the European Parliament's Special Committee on Financial Crime.
MEP Eva Joly, former investigating judge, welcomed the new list but suggested to the commission to "publish country badessments to increase the transparency of the process and to avoid accusations of political negotiation ".
European countries such as Cyprus or the United Kingdom should also be on the list, she said.
Panama said it should be removed from the list as it has recently adopted stricter anti-money laundering rules.
Jourova said the commission would continue to closely monitor other unregistered jurisdictions, including the United States and Russia.
The EU list is longer than that established by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global body currently grouping 12 jurisdictions – all of which are blacklisted from the EU – but excluding Saudi Arabia, Panama and the United States Territories. The FATF will update its list next week.
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