Measures to combat money laundering

The glossary is being updated given the recent signing of the Treaty of Lisbon.

Money laundering is the process by which those engaging in criminal activity conceal the illegal origin of the resulting property or income.

Better cooperation between Member States, and in particular their customs authorities, is one of the aims pursued in the efforts to prevent money laundering. Such efforts within the Union are thus of two types:

• Under the Treaty establishing the European Community (first pillar), free movement of capital is so regulated that the flows can be monitored. These rules relate both to financial operators such as credit institutions and other financial organisations, and to means of conducting financial transactions, especially across borders. They also target use of the financial system for money-laundering purposes.
• Under Title VI of the Treaty on European Union (police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters -- third pillar), action to combat money laundering is seen primarily as part of the battle against organised crime and terrorism. The focus is on definition of offences and on strengthening mutual assistance (Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters of 29 May 2000, adopted by the Council of the European Union in October 2001).

While action was already taken in the 1990s under the first pillar, the third pillar has been used to strengthen the Union's policy. On this basis, efforts to combat money laundering rest on action programmes, currently the five-year programme adopted in 2004 in The Hague, which follows on from the 1999 Tampere programme.

See:

• Area of freedom, security and justice
• Eurojust
• Organised crime
• Pillars of the European Union
• Police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters
• Terrorism