German minister of finance Wolfgang Schäuble and his French counterpart Michel Sapin have introduced a set of measures to the European Commission that will enhance governmental control over finance. These include creating a register of bank accounts and implementing stricter regulations towards bitcoin.

The proposed restrictions are justified by the fight against terrorism and money laundering. It is the struggle against illicit financial operations that causes such measures, writes the German news website Heise Online. The register of bank accounts that should be created in all member states is also a step in the anti-terrorism war, it claims.

Besides bitcoin, the German Ministry of Finance also mentions Ripple and prepaid credit cards in an email sent to the European Council in mid-January, says Heise Online. The chief criterion that makes these systems potentially dangerous is their anonymity, so the officials think. In Germany itself the rules regarding digital money and prepaid cards are stricter than in the European Union in general.

Germany is also introducing a proposal to reform the Custom Administration Act. According to the project, the customs will not only be able to check goods that cross borders, but also will be in control of electronic money flows. This is also a step made in view of the terrorist threat.

Cryptocurrency regulation became one of the hot issues on the EU agenda after the Paris terrorist attacks of 13 November 2015. CoinFox has covered the recent meeting of the Committee on Economic and Monetary affairs of the European Parliament regarding the possible development of the digital currency legislative framework.

Andrew Levich