Europe Finance Ministers Agree To French-Led Terrorist Assets Body

According to EU Finance Ministers they have agreed to create a French-led organisation that will track and freeze terrorist funding across Europe. The agreement was made as an effort by France to end the terrorist threat to Europe after the previous month's bombing and attacks in Paris.

The European Commission is set to create a proposal to limit cash movements found to be illicit, asset freezing and financial intelligence sharing between countries to crack down on terrorist funding.

According to EC Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis:

“Ministers agreed to work on the fight against terrorism financing as an immediate priority."

French Finance Minister Michael Sapin said:

“France is satisfied,” Mr. Sapin said after the meeting. “The European Commission and EU countries will speed up efforts and cooperation between services will increase.”

The agreement will help create a comprehensive EU system that can search terrorist bank transfers modelled on international bank transactions programs the US used during its efforts post-September 11 attacks.

France wishes to implement ID checks on anonymous transactions within the European Union. Electronic currencies such as bitcoin and prepaid cards would be affected.

According to French intelligence, the terrorist cell that initiated the attack received funding in small amounts. Prepaid cards became a way to discreetly shift money from one place to the other.