The Council of Europe Economic Crime and Cooperation Division (ECCD) and the European Commission Directorate General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM) are currently supporting Polish authorities in enhancing the Methodology for conducting the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (ML/TF) National Risk Assessment (NRA) of Poland.

As part of these efforts, the ECCD has undertaken an expert review of the ML/TF NRA Methodology that was used for the preparation of the 2019 ML/TF NRA Report, as well as for its ongoing updating process. The review resulted in the provision of a number of recommendations aimed at further enhancing the Methodology, both in light of the 2022 MONEYVAL Mutual Evaluation Report of Poland and relevant international standards. 

The results of the review were presented and discussed with Polish authorities during the first in-person workshop held on 16 March 2023 in Warsaw, Poland. While focusing on the current challenges encountered in the application of the ML/TF NRA Methodology of Poland, the event also aimed at discussing good practices and challenges in implementing ML/TF NRA Methodologies in different EU Member States. Different approaches have thus been presented by the practitioners from EU Member States, such as the experience of the Czech Republic and Spain which developed their own ML/TF NRA Methodologies, or the experience of Bulgaria which conducted it’s ML/TF NRA and the subsequent update pursuant to the Methodology designed by the Council of Europe.

The project will continue assisting Polish authorities with further improving the ML/TF NRA Methodology, most notably by providing targeted support for the purpose of enhancing the quality of data informing the NRA process, as well as the data collection and data analysis processes. 

The event was organised within the framework of the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) initiative on “Strengthening the risk assessment mechanisms and the AML-CFT strategic analysis function of the Polish financial intelligence unit”, funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe, and implemented by the Council of Europe.