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Two days after the European Commission overhauled its list of high-risk countries for money laundering, removing the United Arab Emirates (UAE) while adding several others, including Monaco, Lebanon, and Venezuela, a Member of the European Parliament said that the Parliament will examine the commission’s decision.
“The members of the ECON committee will now engage with the Commission to clarify the evidence underlying the decisions for listing and de-listing of individual countries,” Markus Ferber, a German MEP with the European People's Party (EPP) told OCCRP commenting on the updated list.
“At this stage, it is too early to give a clear indication how the EPP will position itself towards the delegated act. We will look at all the evidence and the information the Commission can provide and then take a decision,” Ferber added.
With the new classification not yet in force, the European Parliament or EU member states can formally object and block the decision.
The Commission said in a statement that the UAE—along with Barbados, Gibraltar, Jamaica, Panama, the Philippines, Senegal, and Uganda—would no longer be subject to the European Union’s enhanced scrutiny of anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing measures.
At the same time, the Commission added Algeria, Angola, Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, Laos, Lebanon, Monaco, Namibia, Nepal, and Venezuela to its blacklist. The updated list now includes 27 countries deemed to pose a “high risk” of money laundering and terrorist financing.
The EU’s decision follows a move by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global anti-money laundering watchdog supported by the G7. In February 2024, the FATF removed the UAE from its “gray list,” which flags countries under increased monitoring. The European Commission followed suit in March, proposing to remove the UAE from the EU’s own high-risk list.
However, members of the European Parliament pushed back, passing a resolution that cited ongoing concerns about sanctions evasion by Russian nationals in Dubai and other unresolved issues.
“The Commission, as a founding member of the FATF, was closely involved in the delisting process of the UAE within the FATF,” the European Commission said in its explanatory memorandum.
“Following a visit in January 2024, the FATF concluded that all the shortcomings identified in the UAE’s anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing regime had been addressed… After a comprehensive assessment, [the Commission] concluded that the FATF Action Plan was sufficiently comprehensive to meet the EU delisting criteria.”
The FATF’s decision to clear the UAE sparked criticism at the time. Several EU lawmakers and advocacy groups argued the Gulf state remains a global hub for illicit finance.
Their concerns were amplified by the “Dubai Unlocked” investigation, published in 2023 by OCCRP in partnership with more than 70 media outlets. Based on leaked property records, the report detailed how alleged criminals and sanctioned individuals from around the world used Dubai’s low taxes, financial secrecy, and luxury real estate to shield assets.
Following that investigation, the FATF pledged to take its findings into account during future assessments of the UAE’s efforts to combat money laundering
Monaco, one of the countries newly added to the EU's blacklist, acknowledged the Commission’s decision in a statement. The principality said it is actively working to be removed from the FATF’s gray list and noted that the EU designation could still be blocked by the European Parliament or the Council of the European Union.
