The past decade witnessed the emergence in the European Union of a
comprehensive legal framework aimed at countering money laundering. The aim
of the thesis is to place these measures in context, by examining their evolution in
the light of parallel developments in the fields of international relations and crime
prevention and control. Through the employment of an interdisciplinary approach,
it is demonstrated that the development of money laundering counter-measures in
the European Union is inextricably linked with the reconceptualisation of security
in the international arena, now extending beyond the narrow state/military realm
and including threats such as organised crime and, related to that, money
laundering. Money laundering counter-measures are thus legitimated as emergency
measures deemed as necessary to address these newly perceived threats. In this
context, and following international political pressure for the adoption of a global
anti-money laundering framework, the European Union counter-measures
constitute a new paradigm of security governance, achieved through three
principal methods: criminalisation, consisting in the emergence of a new criminal
offence of money laundering; responsibilisation, consisting in the mobilisation of
the private sector to co-operate with the authorities in the fight against money
laundering; and the emphasis on the administration of knowledge, through the
establishment of new institutions, the financial intelligence units, with extensive
powers to administer a wide range of information provided by the private sector.
All three methods pose significant challenges to fundamental legal principles and
ultimately, to well-established social transactions and bonds. The analysis will
focus on these challenges, which become more acute in the light of the constant
evolution of these measures. An attempt will thus be made to demonstrate that a
'securitised' anti-money laundering paradigm, which may serve as a mould for
subsequent initiatives in the field of organised crime, has the potential to
undermine the very essence of fundamental legal principles and rights. This is
particularly the case in the European Union as the latter's ambitious position as an
international security actor putting forward a security paradigm in the field of
money laundering is not accompanied by analogous powers to protect fundamental
rights. In view of these dangers, a call will be made for the 'de-securitisation' of
money laundering counter-measures, through attempts towards a realistic and wellfounded
estimation of the actual threat and the promotion of legal certainty and
respect of fundamental legal principles in the drafting of new measures. At the
same time, the imposition of security measures by the European Union must be
accompanied by the constitutionalisation at the EU level of the protection of
fundamental legal principles and human rights
