The EU wants to make money laundering more difficult with a cash payment limit.
The move is controversial - especially in Germany.
Brussels - Organized crime, corruption, undeclared work: every year, huge sums of illegal origin are channeled into the regular economy.
The EU Commission now wants to crack down on money laundering.
Supervision at EU level should control the national authorities and coordinate their action against money laundering.
250 people are to work for the authority from the start in 2024.
But another point of the planning is causing a lot more sensation, at least in Germany: A cash limit of 10,000 euros is also planned - similar limits already exist in several EU member states, but not in the Federal Republic of Germany.
EU cash limit: Plans cause trouble, especially in Germany
The financial policy spokesman for the left parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Fabio de Masi, described a cash limit as “sensible” - “even if it is still relatively high compared to countries like Italy”.
It must be possible to make everyday purchases anonymously.
"It is absurd, however, that entire properties in Germany can still be paid for in cash out of a suitcase instead of through a notary's account," he explained.
The CSU MEP Markus Ferber, however, said: “A Europe-wide uniform upper limit for cash is not needed.” The Commission would do well to take national sensitivities into account and leave it to the member states as to whether and to what extent there are upper cash limits.
The AfD top candidate for the federal election, Alice Weidel, also expressed sharp criticism.
"A cash cap opens the door to a cash ban," she warned.
At the same time, “there is no scientifically reliable evidence that cash restrictions can actually fight crime better”.
Therefore, her party is against upper limits and bans - cash means "freedom and data protection".
Cash limit: German banks describe plans as "groundbreaking"
The insurance industry declared that the fight against money laundering was an "important task" and that the plans for more money laundering prevention were correct. The Association of German Banks sees the Commission's plans in Brussels as having the potential "to become groundbreaking for an EU-wide fight against money laundering and terrorist financing and to further advance the single European financial market," explained Managing Director Andreas Krautscheid.
Proponents argue that the cap makes it harder for criminals to disguise the illegal origin of their income, and that it makes terrorist financing just as difficult as undeclared work.
Because unlike electronic deposits or transfers, cash transactions hardly leave any traces.
Thus, an upper limit for payments with notes and coins could curb criminal machinations.
EU wants cash cap: who would it hit?
Five-digit cash payments are likely to be a rarity for most consumers.
In certain areas, however, upper limits could cause problems, for example when buying a used car.
Many sellers are reluctant to rely on the promise that the money will be transferred.
High rental deposits are also sometimes paid in cash.
Such transactions could, however, also be possible under the more stringent conditions: "This upper limit does not apply to private transactions between private individuals," says a draft for the regulation.
In countries with upper limits for cash payments, there are already some exceptions for transactions between private individuals.
Cash limit: what about in other EU countries?
Most European countries already have maximum limits for cash payments - in Greece, for example, the limit is 500 euros, in Croatia it is 15,000 euros.
Countries such as Germany, Austria, Luxembourg and Cyprus have not set any limits so far.
According to EU plans, states that have introduced a lower limit can keep it.
(AFP / dpa / frs)
