Golden Passports



As the EU launches legal action against Cyprus and Malta’s so-called ‘golden passport’ schemes, we compare Maltese, Irish, Cypriot, and Belgian articles on the issue. 



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Tweet about this <[link removed]'s%20European%20Headlines%20from%20@EMInternational%20https://europeanmovement.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/European-Headlines-23-October-2020.pdf>Valletta of the law



With infringement procedures against Cyprus and Malta’s ‘golden passports’ now in motion, European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič emphasises the continuation of “intensive contacts … to make sure European law in this area [is] properly respected,” The Times of Malta reports. Šefčovič has defended the Commission as having “frequently raised its concerns about those schemes with the member states concerned.” Last month, Maltese officials arrested former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s chief of staff in an ongoing probe into alleged kickbacks within the scheme. Meanwhile, and in the wake of a damning Al-Jazeera report into corruption and criminality, the Cypriot government has announced that their own passport programme, which has brought the island nation around 7 billion euros, will be terminated. Asked to react to the EU announcement, Maltese PM Robert Abela told journalists: “We will be defending Malta. Had it not been for the contributions from that programme, we would probably not have been in a position to present a budget of this scale.”



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Coming to a pretty passport





Independent writes about the widespread corruption in golden passport programmes. Cyprus says it will end its programme from November 1, though the Commission notes the country plans to process current applications. The Cypriot scheme was introduced in the wake of a 2013 financial crisis that brought the country to the brink of bankruptcy and forced it to accept a financial rescue programme from creditors. Around 4,000 Cypriot passports have been issued to foreign investors, many of whom are attracted by the prospect of being granted automatic access to the entirety of the European Union. In Malta, the programme was among the topics investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia had reported on before she was killed by a car bomb in 2017. Anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International welcomed the Commission's decision, saying the scheme served “corrupt interests, not the common good."







Read the full article <[link removed]>Reading the Cypriot Act



Despite some assurances to the contrary, the European Commission remains skeptical as to whether Cyprus and Malta’s golden passport schemes will be terminated, O Phileleftheros reports. Commission spokesperson Christian Wigand notes that, while Cyprus has committed to its removal, “Malta […] intends to extend the programme … The schemes remain in force in both Member States at the moment, and could be replaced by similar investment schemes.” Wigand did not comment, however, on why these infringement procedures have taken so long to appear, nor on why other Member States with similar programmes are not also being targeted. If these and other questions remain unanswered, O Phileleftheros suggests that one thing is certain: now that Cyprus’s golden passport schemes have hit the headlines, investors are being seriously discouraged from operating on the island. 







Read the full article <[link removed]>Livin’ la visa loca



The Brussels Times outlines several Member States involved in dubious passport programmes. Apart from launching infringement procedures against Malta and Cyprus, the Commission is also writing to Bulgaria to highlight its concerns regarding an investor citizenship scheme and to request further details. A study in 2018 showed that, in one or another form, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and candidate country Montenegro have all offered Golden Visa schemes with investments ranging from €250,000 to €10 million. Recent legal developments are therefore “an important and overdue step in the fight against money laundering and corruption in Europe,” MEP Sven Giegold (Greens/EFA) commented. Yesterday, the European Parliament held a debate on ‘Serious security threats through the sale of EU passports and visas to criminals.’ The Parliament has called for a ban on commercial citizenship sales across Europe.







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