THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in particular Article 31(a), (c) and (e) and Article 34(2)(b) thereof,

Having regard to the initiative of the French Republic, Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament, Whereas:

(1) On 3 December 1998 the Council adopted Joint Action 98/699/JHA on money laundering, the identification, tracing, freezing, seizing and confiscation of instrumentalities and the proceeds from crime [OJ L 333, 9.12.1998, p. 1.].

(2) Account should be taken of the Presidency conclusions of the European Council meeting in Tampere on 15 and 16 October 1999, and of the Presidency conclusions of the European Council meeting in Vienna on 11 and 12 December 1998.

(3) The European Council, noting that serious forms of crime increasingly have tax and duty aspects, calls on Member States to provide full mutual legal assistance in the investigation and prosecution of this type of crime.

(4) The European Council calls for the approximation of criminal law and procedures on money laundering (in particular, confiscating funds), adding that the scope of criminal activities which constitute principal offences for money laundering should be uniform and sufficiently broad in all Member States.

(5) The European Council in Tampere considered that, with regard to national criminal law, efforts to agree on common definitions, incriminations and sanctions should be focused in the first instance on a limited number of sectors of particular relevance, such as finan- cial crime.