EU signs new European protocol on the cross-border confiscation and recovery of criminal assets

On 14 October, the European Union signed the Additional Protocol to the Council of Europe’s Warsaw Convention, which expands cooperation on the identification, freezing, management, confiscation and sharing of assets derived from crime. The Protocol also strengthens information exchange between authorities and cooperation against money laundering. However, signing does not make the new rules immediately applicable: the EU must formally conclude the Protocol, the European Parliament must give its consent, and its entry into force depends on the ratifications provided for in the treaty.

The European Union signed in Strasbourg a Council of Europe protocol that expands the tools available to authorities for recovering criminal assets in cross-border cases. The text supplements the Warsaw Convention on money laundering, the confiscation of proceeds of crime and the financing of terrorism, and adds rules on the freezing and confiscation of property, asset management, information exchange, and police and judicial cooperation.

In brief

The EU signed the Additional Protocol to the Warsaw Convention on 14 October, the day it was opened for signature.

The Protocol expands the tools for identifying, freezing, confiscating, managing and sharing assets derived from crime.

The text strengthens cooperation between asset recovery offices, judicial authorities and, in relevant areas, financial intelligence units.

Signing does not mean entry into force or immediate application. At EU level, the conclusion procedure follows, which also requires the consent of the European Parliament.

The Protocol may enter into force after five signatories, at least three of which must be Council of Europe member states, express their consent to be bound by it.

Recovering property becomes difficult when the profits of a crime are moved through accounts, companies, properties or assets located in different jurisdictions. An investigation may identify the illicit proceeds in one state, the bank account in a second and the property purchased in a third, while the success of confiscation depends on how quickly authorities can locate the assets and recognize measures ordered by external partners. The Protocol seeks to reduce these differences in a legal area that extends beyond the borders of the European Union.

The text updates the 2005 Warsaw Convention after two decades in which forms of crime, financial structures and international asset recovery standards have changed. Confiscation measures and mechanisms through which authorities can identify property are strengthened, while cooperation covers the management of assets that have been placed under restraint so that their value is not lost until the proceedings are completed.

The Protocol also regulates cooperation between asset recovery offices, their access to information and the exchange of data between authorities. In the judicial area, the document includes mechanisms concerning the return and sharing of confiscated assets and the use of certificates for cross-border freezing and confiscation measures. In the area of combating money laundering, it also addresses tools for financial intelligence units and access to information on accounts and other financial assets.

The expansion of powers is accompanied by safeguards and remedies for persons affected by the measures provided for in the Protocol. Confiscating property or blocking an account interferes with property rights, so faster cooperation between authorities does not replace the obligation to respect judicial procedures and the rights of defense.

The Protocol was adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on 15 May 2026, in Chișinău, following negotiations in which the European Commission participated on behalf of the Union on the basis of a mandate received from the Council in 2024. It was opened for signature in Strasbourg on 14 October, when the European Union, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Luxembourg, Monaco, Montenegro, San Marino and the United Kingdom signed the document.

The list of signatories illustrates the agreement’s particular legal status. It is a mixed agreement covering competences of the Union and competences of the states, which means that the EU’s signature should not be interpreted as the automatic signature of each member state. Greece, Hungary and Luxembourg signed in their own name on the first day, while the other states may follow their own procedures.

Nor is the Union’s signature equivalent to ratification. The Commission states that, after signing, the Council must decide on the conclusion of the Protocol and of the Warsaw Convention itself, which the EU signed in 2009 without having completed ratification to date. The conclusion of agreements at European level also requires the consent of the European Parliament.

The Protocol has its own threshold for entry into force. Five signatories must express their consent to be bound by the text, and at least three of them must be Council of Europe member states. Once the threshold has been reached, entry into force takes place on the first day of the month following a period of three months.

Within the EU, there is already a directive adopted in 2024 on the recovery and confiscation of assets, as well as rules for the mutual recognition of freezing and confiscation orders. The Protocol’s added value is the extension of a compatible framework for cooperation beyond the Union, to Council of Europe states and other participants in the Warsaw Convention.

The Commission justifies the instrument by pointing to the large gap between the proceeds of crime and the assets that authorities actually manage to identify and recover. Freezing an asset does not mean definitive confiscation, and confiscation does not automatically mean that its value can be recovered and returned. The new Protocol seeks to cover more of these stages and reduce the possibility that moving money across a border will interrupt the proceedings.

The concrete effect on investigations can be assessed only after the Protocol has been concluded and entered into force for the relevant parties. Until then, the signing on 14 October is an important legal step in expanding cooperation, without granting authorities new powers that can be used immediately in a criminal case.

https://2eu.brussels/ro/news/ue-semneaza-un-nou-protocol-european-pentru-confiscarea-si-recuperarea-averilor-infractionale-peste-frontiere