What is happening
On 13 July 2026, the European Commission proposed a Council decision authorising it to sign the additional protocol for the EU. This is a proposed authorisation, not an adopted signing decision. The Commission says a separate proposal will cover asset recoveryIn this proposal, work involving asset tracing, freezing and confiscation, asset management, safeguards, and international cooperation between law-enforcement and judicial authorities., including tracing, freezing and confiscation, asset management and international law-enforcement and judicial cooperation.21
The protocol sets rules for Financial Intelligence Units, including access to account information, powers to suspend or withhold consent for transactions, accounts and business relationships, and cooperation with each other. It also provides for a national central automated mechanism, or similar system, to identify holders of bank, payment, securities and virtual-asset accounts and safe-deposit boxes.2
The protocol adds to the 2005 Warsaw ConventionA 2005 Council of Europe convention covering the prevention and combating of money laundering and terrorism financing, to which the new protocol would add rules.. The proposal states that the EU signed that convention on 2 April 2009 but had not ratified it. The Council authorised the Commission to negotiate the protocol on 13 June 2024; the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers adopted it on 15 May 2026 after seven negotiating sessions.2
Why it matters
The Commission argues that international cooperation is essential because money laundering and terrorist financing operate across borders. It says illicit revenue often enters the legal economy or finances other crimes, with destabilising consequences for financial systems, society, the rule of law and trust in public authorities.2
The Commission’s memorandum says the protocol requires necessity and proportionality when property rights are restricted. People affected by asset tracing, seizure or freezing, confiscation or sales before confiscation must be able to claim a fair trial and effective remedy and receive defence rights. The memorandum also describes safeguards for processing and exchanging personal data.2
What happens next
The Council of Europe has agreed to open the protocol for signature on 14 October 2026. The proposal says EU Member States may also sign it under their own internal procedures.2
In the same document, the Commission said it intended to propose later Council decisions on concluding the protocol and the Warsaw Convention for the EU. The protocol enters into force after five signatories, including at least three Council of Europe member states, consent to be bound and the specified three-month period expires.2