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Reply to Recommendation | Doc. 15017 | 18 December 2019
Laundromats: responding to new challenges in the international fight against organised crime, corruption and money laundering
1. The Committee of
Ministers has carefully examined Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 2154 (2019) entitled “Laundromats: responding to new challenges
in the international fight against organised crime, corruption and
money laundering”, which it forwarded to the European Committee
on Crime Problems (CDPC), the Group of States against Corruption
(GRECO) and the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money
Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (MONEYVAL), for
information and possible comments.
2. The Committee of Ministers fully shares the Parliamentary
Assembly’s concerns regarding the threats posed to democracies by
organised crime, corruption and money laundering and reiterates
that corruption poses a major threat to the core values of the Council
of Europe. The fight against these phenomena is an essential precondition
for the development of an open and democratic society and is one
of the priorities of the Council of Europe and of the successive
presidencies of the Committee of Ministers. Under the Croatian Presidency,
a high-level conference was held in Šibenik in October 2018, which
led to the setting up of a network of national anti-corruption authorities.
Under the French Presidency, a high-level conference was held in
Strasbourg in June 2019 to mark the 20th anniversary
of GRECO and provided an opportunity to reflect on how to improve
the capacity of States to prevent and combat corruption. The Committee
also welcomes the continuous efforts of the Assembly in addressing
cases of corruption and unethical behaviour concerning its members,
since they undermine not only the trust, legitimacy and respect
of the Assembly itself, but that of the Organisation as a whole,
as the Committee already stated in its reply to Assembly Recommendation 2128 (2018) “Follow-up to the report of the Independent Investigation
Body on the allegations of corruption within the Parliamentary Assembly”.
3. The Council of Europe has developed a number of key legal
instruments in these areas, such as the Criminal Law Convention
on Corruption (ETS No. 173) and its Additional Protocol (ETS No.
191) and the Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search,
Seizure and Confiscation of Proceeds from Crime and on the Financing
of Terrorism (CETS No. 198, hereafter the Warsaw Convention). GRECO,
MONEYVAL and the Conference of the Parties to the Warsaw Convention
monitor and promote the application of the standards contained in
these treaties and other relevant international instruments. They
have the full support of the Committee of Ministers. Regular exchanges
of views are organised between these bodies and the Ministers’ Deputies,
providing an opportunity to discuss the challenges and new trends
identified by these bodies, and the main difficulties in the application
of these standards at national level. The Committee of Ministers
also welcomes the support expressed by the Assembly and endorses
its call on all member States to “implement promptly and fully all
relevant recommendations of the FATF, MONEYVAL and the Council of
Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO)” (§7.9.8 of
Assembly Resolution 2279
(2019)). In this context, the Committee of Ministers notes
that MONEYVAL has taken a ground-breaking step in assessing the
real effectiveness of measures taken by States, beyond mere compliance
with international standards in line with the FATF’s methodology.
This approach is also regularly followed by GRECO. In addition,
both GRECO and MONEYVAL take into account, amongst other things,
the texts adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly in their country-by-country
evaluation work.
4. With regard to organised crime, the Action Plan (2016-2020)
on Transnational Organised Crime, adopted by the Committee of Ministers
in March 2016, contains several initiatives to improve international
co-operation in this field, which are currently being implemented.
These initiatives include a review of existing declarations and
reservations to Council of Europe conventions that are outdated
or could hinder effective co-operation in the fight against transnational
organised crime, and an assessment of the feasibility and possible added
value of a new binding Council of Europe instrument to improve international
co-operation on the recovery, management and sharing of assets derived
from crime.
5. Finally, given the transnational dimension of corruption,
organised crime and money laundering, the Council of Europe’s work
in this field is part of a wider international context. With regard
to the Parliamentary Assembly’s recommendation 1.3, the Committee
of Ministers points out that the level of co‑operation with international
organisations and bodies, including financial institutions, in these
fields is already very advanced and is being further developed.
The Committee informs the Assembly that, on 10 July 2019, it has
granted the European Union observer status with GRECO. Furthermore,
in March 2019, it authorised the Council of Europe Secretariat to
contribute to the European Commission’s assessment of the implementation
and effective application of Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on the prevention of
the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering
or terrorist financing, in particular by preparing assessment reports
based on the Council of Europe’s evaluation methodology. This co-operation
activity will further strengthen the interaction between the Council
of Europe and the European Union and constitutes very clear recognition
of the Council of Europe’s expertise in these fields.