By Bosphorus News Economy Desk
The European Commission opened a new OLAF bank-access case against the Republic of Cyprus on July 8, placing the country in 10 European Union infringement files just days after it handed over the bloc's rotating presidency.
The case concerns access to banking records for the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF). It sits at the centre of a wider July infringement package that also listed the Republic of Cyprus in tax-data exchange, money-laundering, waste, services, reporting, minimum wage, transport and asbestos files.
Bank records and OLAF access
The Commission sent a letter of formal notice under INFR(2026)2054, saying Cypriot law does not allow OLAF to obtain bank-account information and banking-transaction records in administrative investigations when there is no reasonable suspicion of a criminal offence.
The Commission said that gap prevents OLAF from using a power granted under Article 7(3a) of Regulation 883/2013 and "significantly hampers" the results of its investigations. It said the Cyprus case is only the second infringement procedure opened over that issue, after a similar case against Ireland on June 4.
The Republic of Cyprus now has two months to respond. If the Commission is not satisfied, it can issue a reasoned opinion under Article 258 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
Tax data at the court threshold
A second financial file is already further along. The Commission sent a reasoned opinion to the Republic of Cyprus under INFR(2024)0030 over Directive (EU) 2025/872, which concerns automatic exchange of information on top-up tax information returns under the global minimum-tax framework.
The decision followed a May 29 Commission tax note on Cyprus and Pillar Two. The note said European Union member states should treat Cyprus as having a qualified income inclusion rule under the EU Pillar Two Directive, that Cyprus could receive top-up tax information returns from May 31, 2026, and that it was obliged under DAC9 to exchange information with other member states in time for the first exchange deadline.
The July infringement package said European Union tax administrations should have been able to exchange information on multinational and large domestic groups covered by Pillar Two rules from June 2026. Belgium and Bulgaria were also listed in the same tax file. If the Republic of Cyprus does not satisfy the Commission, the case can move to the Court of Justice.
Money-laundering law, not a blanket verdict
The third financial-compliance file concerns money laundering. Under INFR(2026)2086, the Commission sent a letter of formal notice to the Republic of Cyprus over what it described as incorrect transposition of parts of Directive (EU) 2018/1673 on combating money laundering by criminal law.
The Commission said the directive strengthens criminal provisions on money laundering, including stand-alone prosecutions without a prior conviction for the underlying offence, criminalisation of self-laundering and aggravated penalties when offences are committed by people under special professional obligations, including banks and notaries. Lithuania, Poland and Slovenia were listed alongside the Republic of Cyprus in that file.
The money-laundering case does not erase earlier technical progress recorded by external monitors. MONEYVAL, the Council of Europe's anti-money-laundering monitoring body, said in June 2025 that Cyprus had improved technical compliance on correspondent banking, with its rating for the relevant Financial Action Task Force recommendation upgraded to "Largely Compliant." MONEYVAL said none of the 40 FATF recommendations for Cyprus were assessed as non-compliant.
That makes the July package more specific than a broad verdict on the Cypriot financial system. The Commission is targeting narrower European Union law gaps: OLAF access to banking records, criminal-law provisions on money laundering and tax-data exchange under the global minimum-tax system.
Beyond the financial files
The non-financial files widen the picture. The Commission opened a new waste-recycling procedure under INFR(2026)2139, saying Cyprus, Germany and Greece had missed the 2020 target to prepare at least 50 percent of municipal waste for re-use and recycling. A separate waste case, INFR(2024)2131, moved to the reasoned-opinion stage over packaging-waste targets, including glass packaging.
Services rules added another case. Under INFR(2026)2105, the Commission sent letters of formal notice to 11 member states, including the Republic of Cyprus, over restrictions affecting energy-installation services. Cyprus was also named among countries applying broader attestation and registration requirements in construction.
The Republic of Cyprus was also listed under INFR(2026)2149 over the transposition of Directive (EU) 2024/2839, a reporting-reduction measure. The Commission said Cyprus had notified national measures after an earlier January warning, but that those measures were insufficient.
Labour law produced another formal notice. Under INFR(2026)2132, the Commission said the Republic of Cyprus and Luxembourg had not notified any national transposition measures for Directive (EU) 2022/2041 on adequate minimum wages by the November 15, 2024 deadline.
Two more files moved to reasoned opinions. The Commission cited the Republic of Cyprus under INFR(2026)0025 over Directive (EU) 2023/2661 on intelligent transport systems, and under INFR(2026)0026 over Directive (EU) 2023/2668 on asbestos protection. In the asbestos case, the Commission said a lack of compliance could lead to a Court of Justice referral with a request for financial penalties.
After the EU presidency
Several of the July decisions were linked by the Commission to its single-market enforcement drive, described in its "A simpler, clearer and better enforced EU Rulebook" communication. The OLAF case stands apart from that market package, sitting in the anti-fraud section and turning on access to banking data in administrative investigations.
The timing gives the package a sharper political edge. The Republic of Cyprus handed over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union at the end of June. Eight days later, the Commission's infringement register placed it across 10 EU law files, with anti-fraud banking access, tax transparency and money-laundering rules at the front of the list.
Sources: European Commission, MONEYVAL, Bosphorus News review and reporting.