Bundesrat EU committee discusses EU plan to combat money laundering and terrorist financing - Archyde
Weitere Themen: Verbesserung der Luftqualität sowie nachhaltige Verwendung von Pflanzenschutzmitteln The EU Committee of the Federal Council discussed a proposed regulation proposal by the EU Commission aimed at preventing the use of the financial system for money laundering and terrorist financing. The proposal includes a cash payment upper limit of €10,000 and a cap on transactions between private individuals and commercially active persons. The proposals were also discussed on the agenda improvement of air quality and the sustainable use of pesticides in the EU. The aim of the EU Directive is to protect and minimize the health and environment from air pollution.
Publicados : 2 anos atrás por archyde no General
Other topics: Improving air quality and the sustainable use of pesticides
Vienna (PK) – The EU Committee of the Federal Council dealt with one today regulation proposal of the EU Commission aimed at preventing the use of the financial system for money laundering and terrorist financing. The proposed money laundering regulation primarily provides for tightening in the area of cryptocurrencies and is part of an EU legislative package that includes, among other things, a cash payment upper limit of €10,000. A motion by the Freedom Party, which called for the federal government to reject the upper limit, did not find a majority.
The proposals of the EU Commission were also on the agenda improvement of air quality as well as to Halving of chemical pesticides in the EU.
The Commission’s proposal to prevent the use of the financial system for money laundering and terrorist financing purposes is intended to create uniform EU standards in this area. Specifically, the measures against the use of crypto assets for these purposes will be tightened and the scope of the regulation will be extended to include all crypto service providers. The procedure for listing third countries as countries with a high risk of money laundering and terrorist financing is to be revised.
The proposed money laundering regulation is part of a legislative package that includes rules for inter-agency cooperation, the establishment of a new European authority with supervisory powers in this area, and a regulation on the transmission of information on participants in payment and crypto transfers. As the Ministry of Finance (BMF) states in its statement, Austria is committed to strengthening the system to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing and welcomes uniform standards in Europe that would contribute to the development of the internal market.
As part of the legislative package, the European Commission has also proposed a cash payment cap of €10,000, the BMF reports. This includes both transactions between private individuals and commercially active persons – with the exception of private car sales. Despite the “difficult negotiating position” in the European Council, Austria was able to prevent a reduction in the upper cash limit, according to the statement. However, there was not enough support from other member states for their complete abolition, as the statement states. Austria has also pushed through the elimination of the obligation to report to the money laundering agency when depositing more than €10,000 in cash at banks and the possibility of temporarily lifting the upper limit for cash payments in the event of a country-wide failure of other payment methods.
Committee debate between “total surveillance” and the fight against crime
For the Viennese FPÖ Federal Councilor Johannes Hübner, the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing is merely a “hanger” for centralization measures that could subsequently lead to “total surveillance” of citizens. The restriction of the use of cash – for example by means of ever lower cash payment ceilings – ultimately amounts to its abolition. In a request for comment, Hübner called on the federal government to reject any cash limit proposed by EU institutions. This motion remained in the minority.
Andrea Eder-Gitschthaler (ÖVP/S) admitted that cash was a “very sensitive” issue. However, she interjected that nobody – neither in the federal government nor in the EU – is considering a cash abolition. Finance Minister Magnus Brunner has campaigned “vehemently” for the exemptions at EU level, but the concern to fight crime should not be downplayed, according to Eder-Gitschthaler.
Stefan Schennach (SPÖ/W) also showed a lack of understanding about the “vortex” of the FPÖ. Nobody wants to get rid of cash and given the average income in Austria, an upper limit of €10,000 is not worth getting excited about. It must be retained for social reasons alone, as Schennach explained that people who primarily used a credit card were more likely to run into financial problems than people who primarily used cash. He therefore advocated a better supply of ATMs in rural areas and a guarantee, for example from catering companies, that cash would also be accepted. Karl Arthur Arlamovsky (NEOS/W) also agreed to the latter request, as long as this does not lead to an obligation to contract.
Marco Schreuder from the Viennese Green Party found “a good deal of populism” among the Freedom Party when they spoke of total surveillance. When it comes to security, they in particular show the “biggest mania for collecting” data. Schreud explained that the implementation of the EU directive could save lives if, for example, terrorist organizations were cut off as a result.
The aim of the EU Air Quality Directive is to protect and minimize human health and the environment as a whole from air pollution. In addition to the zero-pollution target for the year 2050, limit and target values for individual air pollutants are to be brought closer to the guide values of the World Health Organization (WHO) by 2030. Target values are only included in the proposed directive for ozone, otherwise limit values are to apply for the most part.
From an environmental and health point of view, the more ambitious limit values are to be welcomed, according to the Ministry of Climate Protection (BMK). Compliance with the limit values for fine dust proposed from 2030 is currently still a long way off and requires significantly increased efforts – especially at EU level. The concerns communicated in a joint country statement on May 10, 2023 would largely correspond to the previous Austrian position at EU level. This applies, for example, to the compensation regulations provided for in the Commission’s proposal, which are not provided for in the domestic legal system. All member states have reservations about this, he assumes that there will still be changes here, according to the representative of the BMK in the committee. In their statement, the federal states basically welcome the plans to improve air quality, but they have expressed doubts about compliance with the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality. The Commission must align its measures in such a way that it is locally possible to meet the targets set.
As far as the status of negotiations is concerned, there are currently signs of a dichotomy at EU level. The Eastern European countries and Italy in particular have expressed serious concerns, according to the BMK representative. For the Chamber of Labor expert, the proposal is about environmental justice. Every single citizen should have the right to good air quality. This requires strict limits. The representative of the Chamber of Commerce spoke out in favor of shifting the limit values to 2035. In addition, possible claims for damages would massively overload the domestic authorities.
Europe-wide standards for improving air quality are generally to be welcomed, stated Marlene Zeidler-Beck (ÖVP/N). However, the ÖVP mandatary expressed concerns about the idea of claims for damages and the creation of new regions to implement the reduction targets. Here it is important to pay attention to the feasibility. Zeidler-Beck’s party colleague Ferdinand Tiefnig (ÖVP/O) was critical of the proposal. Life expectancy in industrialized countries has steadily improved, and it is important to consider securing jobs. Johannes Hübner (FPÖ/W) saw no acute need for action. If the matter was “so urgent”, one could also create a regulation nationally and did not have to “wait for Europe”.
Stefan Schennach (SPÖ/W) emphasized that if the EU Commission determined that 300,000 people would die every year from poor air quality, that would justify all efforts to clean the air. It is a successful proposal “with hand and foot”. A claim for compensation is also to be welcomed. Marco Schreuder (Greens/W) argued similarly. For the Green Mandate, it’s about saving lives. Many deaths are due to the high level of fine dust pollution.
By 2030, as part of the Green Deal, the EU Commission is aiming for a Union-wide reduction of 50% in chemical or environmentally or health-damaging pesticides. This is to be ensured through the development of national action plans and goals and through the promotion of organic farming. In a joint state statement from August 2022, the federal states generally support the goal of greening agriculture, but they are fundamentally critical of the Commission’s plans. From the point of view of the federal states, the envisaged legal remedy of a directly effective regulation in this context is contrary to subsidiarity. Other points in the draft are also not compatible with the distribution of competences in the EU from a country perspective, for example that member states are obliged by Brussels to comply with national reduction targets through proposed binding measures. An updated state statement from May 2023 states that the possible introduction of (central) electronic registers – with the exception of integrated plant protection – can also be considered in the context of a goal-oriented and technically feasible approach. However, care should be taken to ensure that the resulting obligations are limited to what is necessary and that an appropriate design is sought.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the economical and sustainable use of plant protection products is already common practice in Austria, which raises concerns about maintaining food security and food supplies. In addition, national conditions and structures, previous services already rendered, such as the organic share in Austria, and the additional administrative effort for farmers and authorities must be taken into account through comprehensive electronic databases. According to the representative of the Ministry of Agriculture, people are currently waiting at EU level for the extended impact assessment, which has been announced for the beginning of July 2023. In the EU Parliament, both the environment and, to some extent, the agriculture committee are responsible.
For the experts from the Chamber of Commerce, it is a “bureaucratic proposal” that goes “in the wrong direction” and leads to greater dependence on imports of grain. This was followed by Ferdinand Tiefnig (ÖVP/O). Food safety in Austria could be adversely affected by stricter plant protection regulations. Agriculture, which already meets many of the demands, is particularly affected.
The ÖVP, as the representative of agriculture, blocks any reform in this area, interjected Stefan Schennach (SPÖ/W). He stated that there was an urgent need for action in plant protection and asked an expert from the Ministry of Agriculture about the problem of “high-risk pesticides”. This referred to a “very strict” approval process for plant protection products both at EU level and in the national states. Accordingly, there are at most “substitution candidates” that would be replaced over time by further developed substances. (End of the EU Committee of the Federal Council) med/wit
Tópicos: Crime, European Union, Terrorism