EU Commission to setup panel of experts by end of 2019

As next steps, since EU published a report on risks arising from investor citizenship schemes, the commission to setup a panel of experts from member states to monitor CBI/RBI schemes and address aspects of transparency and good governance with regard to the implementation of both Citizenship by investment (CBI) and Residence by Investment (RBI/Golden visa) schemes.

The group of experts will be setup by the end of 2019, said Ms Jourova, answering a parliamentary question yesterday

As a next step the Commission will set up a group of experts from the Member States to look into the specific risks that arise from investor citizenship schemes. With a view to improving the information available about such schemes and strengthening their supervision, the group of experts from the Member States will address aspects of transparency and good governance with regard to the implementation of both investor citizenship and residence schemes. The group of experts should also develop by the end of 2019 a common set of security checks for investor citizenship schemes, including risk management processes that take into account security, money laundering, tax evasion and corruption risks.

The previously published EU report said group of experts will carry out

• Address the transparency of investor citizenship schemes and of discretionary naturalisation procedures, which permit acquisition of citizenship based on investment.
• The group of experts shall put in place procedures for the exchange of information and statistics on such schemes, including the exchange of information concerning applicants whose applications for citizenship have been turned down in one Member State on grounds of posing a security risk.
• The group should develop by the end of 2019 a common set of security checks for investor citizenship schemes, including risk management processes that take into account security, money laundering, tax evasion and corruption.

The Commission will monitor wider issues of compliance with EU law raised by investor citizenship and residence schemes and it will take necessary action as appropriate. For this reason, Member States need to ensure, in particular, that:

•          All obligatory border and security checks are systematically carried out;
•          The requirements of the Long-Term Residence Permit Directive and the Family Reunification Directive are properly complied with;
•          Funds paid by investor citizenship and residence applicants are assessed according to the EU anti-money laundering rules;
•          In the context of tax avoidance risks, there are tools available in the EU framework for administrative cooperation, in particular for exchange of information.

That group will be further tasked, in particular, with:

•      Setting up a system of exchange of information and consultation on the numbers of applications received, countries of origin and on the number of citizenships and residence permits granted/rejected by Member States to individuals based on investments;
•      Developing a common set of security checks for investor citizenship schemes, including specific risk management processes, by the end of 2019.

Finally, concerning third countries setting up similar schemes, which may have security implications for the EU, the Commission will monitor investor citizenship schemes in candidate countries and potential candidates as part of the EU accession process.

It will also monitor the impact of such schemes by EU visa-free countries as part of the visa-suspension mechanism.