The European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) has voted to approve amendments to the European Union visa regulations that would target countries running Citizenship-by-Investment Programs.
The approval of this proposal could jeopardise visa-free access to the EU for several third countries offering citizenship in exchange for investments, including the five Caribbean nations: Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Dominica, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Saint Lucia, Schengen.News reports.
The proposal was voted 41 to 10 in favour of the amendment by the Committee in charge of implementing VSM, according to Imi Daily.
The Golden Passport programs active in several European countries offer citizenship to wealthy non-EU nationals in exchange for financial investments.
The investor citizenship schemes listed in Annex II of Regulation (EU) 2018/1806, grant visa-free travel to the EU for non-EU nationals who would otherwise be subject to visas.
Suspension of Visa Exemption for Third Countries
In the report provided by the European Parliament, Amendment 6 notes that while the European Union respects the right of sovereign countries to decide on their own naturalisation procedures, visa-free travel should not be used to attract investors by offering citizenship.
In addition, a lack of comprehensive security checks, vetting procedures and due diligence by such third countries with regard to investor citizenship schemes pose several serious security risks for Union citizens, such as those stemming from money laundering and corruption.
The report further notes that in order to prevent visa-free access to the European Union from being used for this cause, it should be possible to suspend the visa exemption for a third country which chooses to operate these schemes, through which citizenship is granted without any link to the third country concerned.
Golden Visa and Golden Passport Programs are run by several countries in the EU, contributing significantly to their economies. However, they are often criticised for being involved in irregular affairs such as money laundering and corruption.
Suspension Mechanism Can Be Triggered for Several Causes
In addition, the suspension mechanism may be activated by the following grounds among others:
An increase in serious criminal offences connected to nationals of that country, supported by reliable information from authorities.
Deterioration in the EU’s external relations with a third country listed in Annex II caused by several reasons.
It should be possible to trigger the suspension mechanism where, following an assessment, the Commission concludes that there is a substantial increase in the number of third-country nationals, other than nationals of that third country, who arrive legally in the territory of that third country and then irregularly enter the territory of the Member States.
The report on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament as well as of the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2018/1806 as regards the revision of the suspension mechanism was provided earlier this month.