EU commission removes UAE, adds Lebanon and Algeria to money laundering list: What to know

The European Union has begun the process of removing the United Arab Emirates from its list of countries considered high risk for money laundering and terrorist financing. At the same time, the 27-member bloc has added Algeria and Lebanon to the list.

The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, made the announcement in a statement on Tuesday. The changes will take effect unless EU member states or the European Parliament raise objections in the coming weeks, the EC said.

In addition to the UAE, the EU removed Barbados, Gibraltar, Jamaica, Panama, the Philippines, Senegal and Uganda from the list. It also added Angola, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Laos, Monaco, Namibia, Nepal and Venezuela, alongside Algeria and Lebanon, to the group of jurisdictions subject to increased monitoring of their money laundering controls.

Al-Monitor has contacted the EU and the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment on Tuesday’s decision.

Why it matters: Being on the EU’s high-risk money laundering list makes it harder for countries to secure financing from the 27-member bloc, as businesses and financial institutions are required to apply extra scrutiny when dealing with listed countries. Those on the list are seen as a risk to the EU’s financial system.

Lebanon’s addition to the list comes amid a prolonged economic and political crisis, alongside persistent concerns over the financing of non-state armed groups such as Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad.

Corruption and money laundering remain widespread in Algeria. In the 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index, the North African country ranked 107th out of 180, marking it as one of the more corrupt states globally. Several high-profile anti-corruption cases have emerged in recent months. In April, for example, an Algerian court sentenced former presidential protocol chief Mohamed Bouakkaz to five years in prison on charges of illicit enrichment and abuse of office.

Meanwhile, the UAE has long pushed for removal from the list, and last year, Abu Dhabi was taken off the Financial Action Task Force’s so-called grey list of countries with weak safeguards against money laundering and terrorist financing. The EU’s list is based on FATF recommendations, but as shown in the case of the UAE, the two do not always align. The UAE’s removal followed a series of reforms aimed at strengthening its legal and financial systems and tightening regulatory oversight.

The Strasbourg-based European Parliament last year blocked the UAE’s removal from the list. In a statement at the time, Roland Papp, senior policy officer for illicit financial flows at Transparency International EU, said: “The European Parliament has today rightly recognized that it is far too early to delist the United Arab Emirates as a high-risk third country. The Commission should be pressuring countries to tighten their rules, not encouraging complacency in the fight against financial crime.”

Know more: The latest removal decision comes shortly after the UAE and the EU agreed in April to launch free trade talks, after discussions were suspended in 2008.

The new talks will focus on strategic sectors like green energy and critical raw materials, the EU said in an April statement.