The delegations, chaired by Assistant Secretary, Tony Wayne, of the Department of State and Deputy Political Director, Georges Friden, of the Luxembourg Presidency, highlighted progress since the first ad-hoc informal US-EU Troika on terrorism finance issues, a forum established last September to facilitate dialogue between representatives of all three EU pillars with counterparts from US agencies. During the last six months, the two sides have:
- jointly organized a series of workshops to enable American and European prosecutors and investigators to share experiences and best practices in building terrorism finance cases, and designation authorities to exchange ideas on implementing financial sanctions against terrorists and their supporters.
- conducted a joint financial systems assessment mission to Tanzania at the invitation of the United States.
- engaged in productive exchanges in a roundtable sponsored by the European Commission on regulation of non-profit organizations pursuant to Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Special Recommendation VIII.
The delegations undertook to deepen cooperation through further implementation of the 11 terrorism finance elements of the Dromoland Declaration on Combating Terrorism. They committed to explore a range of options between now and the June 20 US-EU Summit in Washington for new and enhanced initiatives aimed at reinforcing our shared fight against terrorist financing.
(communiqué par la Présidence luxembourgeoise du Conseil de l'Union européenne)