On 20 December 2024, MONEYVAL published the findings of a horizontal study that has analysed how EU supra-national legislation, mechanisms and other initiatives have been considered and weighted in MONEYVAL’s 5th round assessments. The study emphasised that more than a third of MONEYVAL member countries are EU Member States and, as such, subject to the EU’s legal order that includes a comprehensive set of harmonisation measures with regard to anti-money laudnering and countering financing of terrorism (AML/CFT). In addition, a number of other MONEYVAL members are committed to harmonise their legislation with the EU’s AML/CFT acquis.

The study was initiated after discussions during MONEYVAL's 5th round of mutual evaluations have often raised the question of how EU supranational measures should be interpreted and weighted when evaluating EU Member States. For this reason, MONEYVAL’s Strategy 2023-2027 identified the need to develop a consistent understanding for the assessment of supranational mechanisms.

One of the key findings of the study is that some ambiguities have been identified in 5th round mutual evaluation reports of EU-MONEYVAL member states with respect to EU supranational mechanisms sometimes being described in diverse or inconsistent manner.