Brussels – Envoys from the 28 EU member states on Wednesday unanimouslyrejected a proposal by the European Commission to add Saudi Arabia andother nations to the bloc’s money-laundering blacklist, European sourcessaid.
The ill-fated plan, drawn up by the EU’s executive arm, infuriated SaudiArabia as well as the United States and exasperated European capitals.
The EU’s 28 interior ministers will formalise the rejection at talks inBrussels on Thursday, a European source told AFP.
The EU governments “cannot support the current proposal,” said a stronglyworded draft statement that will be approved by the ministers.
EU diplomats have complained that the way the commission had drawn up thelist was unclear and potentially vulnerable to legal challenges.
The list “was not established in a transparent and resilient process thatactively incentivises affected countries to take decisive action while alsorespecting their right to be heard,” the draft said.
The controversial list faced a diplomatic onslaught with Saudi Arabia’sKing Salman intervening personally to fight it, writing to European leadersto protest.
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The letter, seen by AFP, called the move to list the Gulf monarchy”surprising and unexpected” and warned it would damage “trade andinvestment flows between the kingdom and the European Union”.
The US ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, on Friday calledthe list “dogmatic posturing”, furious that the US territories of Guam,Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the US Virgin Islands were included.
Under the commission proposal, the new countries — which also includedPanama — would have joined 16 others seen as doing too little to stop thefinancing of terrorism and organised crime.
Inclusion on the EU list does not trigger sanctions, but it does obligeEuropean banks to apply tighter controls on transactions with customers andinstitutions in those countries. – APP/AFP
