EU Finance Ministers Tuesday endorsed an agreement reached with the European Parliament on new rules to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.
Janis Reirs, finance minister of Latvia, which holds the current EU Presidency, told a press conference after the meeting this evening that "given the horrifying events in Paris, it is evident that we need to invest more in work and effort and more coordinated action will play an important role.
"Therefore the Council and the (European) Commission agreed on a joined declaration and in this document the two institutions agreed on studying the necessity to adapt further action at a European level within the context of the European security plan." The joint declaration calls for further efforts towards strengthening cooperation on terrorist financing between the member states' financial intelligence units.
Ministers also discussed a proposal by the Commission to grant macro-financial assistance of up to 1.8 billion euro to Ukraine. The EU presidency concluded that a decision had to be taken quickly.
"Political developments (in Ukraine) mean that the EU must be in a position to provide assistance," said Reirs.