European Union Directive on the Fight Against Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism from the Aspect of Human Rights

This paper analyses the directives of the European Union on the fight against money laundering and financing of terrorism (AMLD) as one of the key measures of the European Union in the fight against international terrorism after September 11, 2001, from the aspect of respect for human rights. Through various revisions, from the first AMLD to the most recent, this legislative framework has been progressively improved to respond to emerging challenges in the financial world and to strengthen the fight against financial crimes. In the paper, a special research focus is given to solutions to the “security vs. human rights” and problems in the implementation of AMLD. The results of the analysis show that the European Union is developing the AMLD measure regarding the dilemma “security vs. human rights” found an adequate balance, i.e. AMLD is continuously developing in such a way that it respects human rights while not jeopardizing the effectiveness of protecting democratic societies within the EU and accepted common values.