The European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) adopted by 61 votes to 3 with 5 abstentions on Tuesday 15 February an own-initiative report by Sophie In ‘t Veld (Renew Europe, Netherlands) calling for a framework for “golden passports and visas”. This is the granting of citizenship and residence in an EU Member State to third country citizens in return for investment.
The MEPs believe golden passports should be phased out. They therefore call on the European Commission to present a legislative initiative to this end. As far as visas are concerned, they call for them to be governed by common rules in order to better combat money laundering, corruption and tax evasion.
This includes background checks on applicants, reporting requirements for Member States or minimum physical residence requirements in the country.
In June 2021, the European Commission sent a reasoned opinion to Cyprus (see EUROPE 12737/33), following the launch of an infringement proceeding on the citizenship programme in Cyprus the previous year. It also sent a second letter of formal notice to Malta in this regard.
See the compromise amendments incorporating all the articles of the report: https://aeur.eu/f/c4 (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)