The European Union is taking measures against money laundering and tax evasion. The European Parliament and member states agreed today Thursday to limit cash payments to 10,000 euros in the member states of the European Union, within the framework of an anti-money laundering legislation.

Some countries like France, have already imposes stricter rules for the amount of cash payments. However, in other member states, such as Austria or Germany, cash payments remain to this day without a limit.

The provision is part of a piece of legislation that also aims to better combating the financing of terrorismwhich was agreed after two and a half years of negotiations and will enter into force this year.

The aim is to bring together the very different existing regulations in the 27 EU countries to identify and limit suspicious transactions.

This deal “will ensure that fraudsters, organized crime and terrorists will no longer be able to launder their profits through the financial system,” said Belgian Finance Minister Vincent Van Peteghem, whose country is lobbying for the first half of the year the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU.

The new legislation also harmonises and tightens anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing rules imposed in particular on banks, real estate agencies and casinos. These actors should be able to identify their customers or asset owners behind opaque financial transactions.

The application of these rules will be extended in the field of cryptoassets, in order to ensure traceability in this area as well.

The rules will also cover the trade of luxury goods such as precious metals, jewellery, watches, as well as ultra-luxury cars, private jets or yachts.

Finally, professional football clubs and agents will also be subject to enhanced regulation, but at the end of a five-year transition period after the legislation comes into force; therefore from 2029.

The new legislation will also strengthen the powers of financial intelligence agencies.

The European Parliament and member states had already approved in December the creation of a European Union agency against money laundering and terrorist financing.

The new agency, called AMLA (“Anti-Money Laundering Authority”), will be responsible in particular for supervising and coordinating national authorities in order to better detect and combat suspicious cross-border activities.

This package of measures proposed by the European Commission in July 2021. Financial Services Commissioner Mairead McGuinness today hailed “an important step in the fight against black money in the EU”.