EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders told Al Jazeera TV on Thursday 27 August that he is considering possible action against Cyprus over its highly controversial citizenship by investment programme.
These statements come after Al Jazeera’s revelations earlier this week that Cyprus had granted Cypriot citizenship to people convicted of fraud and money laundering in exchange for a substantial investment in the country (see EUROPE 12544/17).
The Cypriot programme was already in the sights of the European Commission (see EUROPE 12178/2), which has repeatedly asked Nicosia to strengthen its security controls.
Didier Reynders said he had instructed the Commission’s legal department to “analyse if it is possible in the legal framework that we now have to start an infringement proceeding or to present a legislative proposal”, according to statements reported by Al Jazeera.
While the Commissioner spoke in favour of measures at the EU level, he also pointed out the responsibility of Cyprus and the need for an investigation at the national level.
More generally, Mr Reynders called for at least some changes to these programs and indicated that he would prefer to see them abolished altogether.
On Tuesday, MEP Sophie in 't Veld (Renew Europe, Netherlands) wrote to the Commission (see EUROPE 12545/4), calling on it to take concrete measures to deal with the proliferation of ‘golden visas’ in the EU. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)