Directive (EU) 2024/1654

Ce que fait l'acte

to provide competent authorities with access to centralised registers of bank accounts through the single access point. PROPOSED ACT: Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council. ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council. BACKGROUND: illegal revenues generated by criminal activities in the EU amounted to EUR 139 billion in 2019, corresponding to 1% of its gross domestic product. Swift access to financial information is key to effective financial investigations and successfully tracing and confiscating the instrumentalities and proceeds of crime. The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs adopted the report by Emil RADEV (EPP, BG) on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive (EU) 2019/1153 of the European Parliament and of the Council, as regards access of competent authorities to centralised bank account registries through the single access point. The proposed amendment to Directive (EU) 2019/1153 would allow clearly designated competent authorities responsible for the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences to access and search the interconnected system of centralised bank account registers through the bank account registers (BAR) single access point. The committee responsible recommended that the European Parliament's position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the proposal as follows: Members specify that national competent authorities should have the power to access and search information on bank accounts in other Member States where they have justified reasons to consider that relevant information on bank accounts necessary for the performance of their tasks might exist in other Member States. Data gathered as a result of accessing or searching bank account information through the BAR single access point should be adequate and relevant for the purposes for which they are sought and should not be excessive for those purposes. Competent authorities would only be able to carry out searches if the national competent authorities are able to carry out such searches in the national register under the same conditions as in a similar domestic case. Furthermore, when accessing and searching information available in other Member States through the BAR single point of access, those competent authorities should respect the procedural rights of individuals as well as national and Union rules on the protection of personal data . Lastly, the staff of the designated competent authorities having access through BAR single access point should maintain high professional standards of confidentiality and data protection, are of high integrity and are appropriately skilled. The European Parliament adopted by 571 votes to 18, with 17 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive (EU) 2019/1153 of the European Parliament and of the Council, as regards access of competent authorities to…