EU to counter terrorism financing: Häkkänen

Justice Minister Antti Häkkänen on Wednesday said the recent spate of terrorist attacks in Europe emphasises the need for EU cooperation in fighting terrorism, according to an official press release.

“Money laundering is a key method of channelling funds to support terrorism. The EU must systematically act together to counter financing of terrorism,” said the minister on the eve of the meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council that begins in Luxembourg today.

The objective of the meeting of the EU ministers of justice is to adopt a proposed directive to harmonise legislation of EU member states on money laundering.

The proposal is part of a European action plan to counter financing terrorism and organised crimes.

The directive would secure effective criminalisation of money laundering in the EU member states. Negotiations on the directive are now continuing in the European Parliament.

A proposal for a regulation to establish a European public prosecutor’s office is also on the agenda of the upcoming meeting.

Häkkänen considers it important that the European Union intensifies its activities in countering fraud and corruption that target the common funds of European taxpayers in every possible way. The establishment of the European public prosecutor’s office is one step towards achieving that aim.

“It is in Finland’s interests in the capacity of a net contributor to prevent offences directed against the EU budget. Within the EU, the number of such offences is relatively high, even though in Finland these offences are committed rarely. It is in the taxpayers’ interest that any possible abuses are thoroughly investigated and that those who commit fraud are brought to justice,” the minister said, adding, “The EU’s credibility in the eyes of the citizens also demands that these problems are properly addressed.”

The objective of the proposed European public prosecutor’s office is to e intensify investigations and prosecutions of frauds and bribery offences directed against the EU budget.

“Finland should be a part of a broad European front that aims to fight fraud and corruption. We can also introduce an open and transparent Nordic administrative culture to the office. At the moment, it seems that twenty countries are for establishing the public prosecutor’s office,” Häkkänen said.

If the meeting reaches an agreement on the proposal, the next stage will be to discuss the proposal at the European Parliament.

The establishment of the European public prosecutor’s office would not bring any changes to the powers of the national authorities in Finland.

The EU ministers of justice will also discuss ways to improve cross-border access to e-evidence needed in crime investigation. The intention is to ensure that the authorities are capable of effective actions, as crime and evidence are increasingly being found online. The intention is also to improve cooperation between the authorities and service providers to investigate crime.