EU lawmakers agree on rules for confiscation of criminal money

Council and European Parliament agree on rules on freezing and confiscating criminal money.

The new directive, agreed by the Spanish Council Presidency and European Parliament negotiators, "establishes minimum pan-European rules for the tracing, identification, freezing, confiscation and management of criminal property," the communiqué says.

The future law will also apply "to the breach of sanctions after adopting the directive on the definition of criminal offenses and the punishment of breaches of EU restrictive measures, which is still under consideration”.

"As a result, people and companies profiting from sanctions circumvention will see their income confiscated in the same way as the income of human traffickers or drug cartels," the EU Council explains.

The political agreement reached by the parties now needs to be approved by the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the EU (Coreper). Once approved, the EU Council and the European Parliament will formally adopt the draft law.

Source: Council of the EU