The German Finance Minister is skeptical about the planned cash limit of 10,000 euros – but can hardly prevent it in Brussels.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin A cap on cash payments is approaching. It is to become part of the European Money Laundering Directive, which the EU states want to agree on by the end of the year. According to the current status of negotiations, a limit of 10,000 euros for cash transactions should be imposed, the Handelsblatt learned from the Federal Ministry of Finance.
The EU plans are received differently in the federal government. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) has spoken out in favor of the 10,000 euro limit. “For me, it’s about breaking up criminal structures and consistently depriving them of criminal income,” Faeser told the Handelsblatt. A restriction on cash transactions “reduces the risk of criminal assets being concealed”.
The cash limit is one of several measures of the Interior Ministry’s new strategy to combat organized crime (OK), which Faeser will present on Wednesday at the autumn conference of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA).
The Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) and the Liberals, on the other hand, have concerns. According to the Ministry of Finance, it is “inaccurate” that the federal government has already “committed itself to an upper limit or a certain amount”. Lindner has always made it clear that cash purchases should continue to be possible. “Cash must be preserved as an alternative to digital payments.”
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However, this does not rule out an upper limit. In fact, the Ministry of Finance sees little chance of preventing the limit.
>> Read also: Cash limit: Interior Minister Faeser wants to fight against exacerbate money laundering
“A possible upper limit can be decided at EU level with a qualified majority and thus also against the vote of Germany,” emphasizes Lindner in the department. Therefore, with its coordinated position, Germany can only influence the direction of the decision. In addition, the ministry emphasizes that a limit for cash payments is not an upper limit for cash per se. “It is important that cash possession is still unlimited,” it says.
Cash Limit: How high will the upper limit be?
The main issue here is the height of the limit. According to German government circles, some countries such as France are currently working to lower the upper limit to 5,000 euros. A number of EU countries already have such a limit and therefore no problem with a lower limit.
In France and Spain the upper limit is 1000 euros. Belgium and the Netherlands have a limit of 3000 euros. However, payments between private individuals, such as when selling a car, are often excluded.
In Italy there is a limit of 2000 euros, which should actually be reduced to 1000 euros from next year. But according to the will of the new government, things should now go in a different direction: Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced that she would raise the upper limit from the current €2,000 to €10,000, which was met with criticism from the opposition.
>> Read also: Financial supervisor Birgit Rodolphe explains – “Combating money laundering is like raising children”
In Germany, a cash limit is controversial. Former Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) proposed it six years ago after Germany had been criticized internationally for deficiencies in the fight against money laundering. After much criticism from the public and from the Union faction, Schäuble then abandoned the project.
Conservatives criticize Faeser’s proposal
Interior Minister Faeser is now also being criticized for her initiative. The Union is still against it. The economic policy spokesman for the EPP Group in the EU Parliament, Markus Ferber (CSU), said: “I am against criminalizing citizens.”
The entire used car trade between private individuals takes place with cash. He therefore hopes that Faeser’s advance will still be blocked at the traffic lights. If not, nothing stands in the way of the Europe-wide cash limit. “Should Germany give up its resistance, the blocking minority in the EU Council will be gone,” said the conservative.
Criticism also comes from the Federation of Consumer Organizations (VZBV). “The state must take effective measures against money laundering, there is no question about that,” said the head of the financial market team at VZBV, Dorothea Mohn, the Handelsblatt. “But it is not good to place cash users under general suspicion and restrict their actions.”
Many of the FDP supporters are also critical of restricting the use of cash, which makes things difficult for Lindner. He now wants to at least prevent the possible limit of 10,000 euros from being lowered.
More: Consumer advocates criticize planned cash limit