The "you can be refused an account if you do not comply with EU rules on money laundering and terrorist financing" line is key here; this requires an address. This is also what leads to the catch-22 of "you need a bank account to rent something" and "you need an address to get a bank account".

Things are a lot easier now with IBAN though, and a bank account is less of a hard requirement than it was 15 years ago.