European lawmakers have called on member states to end theirGolden Visa schemes, since their advantages do not compensate for the seriousthreat to security, money laundering and tax evasion that they represent.
This recommendation is part of a hard report released latelast month that accuses seven EU countries of being tax havens: Cyprus,Luxembourg, Ireland, Malta, Hungary, Belgium and the Netherlands.
This document was the result of a one-year work of theparliamentary committee on financial crime and tax evasion. Currently, the reporthas been adopted by the entire assembly, which increases its political weight,although it remains optional.
Lawmakers said that EU states should “curtail” all existingschemes for “selling” citizenship and residence permits for wealthy foreignersas soon as possible. Currently, these programs are implemented in 20 of the 28EU countries.
The Investment Migration Board said that stopping theimplementation of the programs would jeopardize vital investments in“peripheral countries”. Lawmakers supported the Commission’s warnings about therisks, which are mainly represented by programs implemented by Malta andCyprus.
In the report, lawmakers also called for the creation of afinancial police across the EU to counteract the laundering of proceeds from crime,which, according to their estimates, amount to 110 billion euros per year inthe EU.
In the report of the special committee of the EuropeanParliament on financial crime and taxationт Cyprus and six other member states identifiedsigns of tax havens. This report was adopted in February by an overwhelmingmajority of deputies of the European Parliament.
Cyprus has been repeatedly condemned by the EU for the lackof transparency of its “citizenship for investments” program and inadequateverification of the origin of people's wealth.