In adopting without debate the report by Mr. Klaus-Heiner LEHNE (EPP-ED, D), the European Parliament approved the initiative of Finland with a view to adopting a Council decision concerning arrangements for cooperation between financial intelligence units of the Member States in respect of exchanging information.
The initiative was adopted subject to amendments relating to:
- fraud: in the event of fraud, corruption or other illegal activities affecting the European Union's financial interests, the Commission and the authorities responsible for combating money laundering must cooperate and exchange useful information;
- documents and information: the Member States must organise the FIUs in such a way as to ensure that information and documents are submitted within a reasonable space of time;
- fundamental rights: Member States shall ensure that fundamental rights, especially the right to effective judicial remedies, are guaranteed over the whole scope of this decision;
- the requesting body: it shall specify in the request how information sought will be used;
- the submission of information: the FIUs and the Commission shall apply in full the relevant provisions of the Council of Europe Convention of 28 January 1981 for the Protection of Individuals with Regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data and Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data.�