- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Text
adopted by the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of
the Assembly, on 4 December 2020 (see Doc. 15127, report of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and
Displaced Persons, rapporteur: Mr Aleksander Pociej; and Doc. 15182, opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human
Rights, rapporteur Mr Pieter Omtzigt).See also Recommendation 2191 (2020).
1. The Parliamentary Assembly welcomes
the European Parliament’s Resolution of 26 March 2019 on financial
crimes, tax evasion and tax avoidance, and emphasises that national
programmes of member States for the award of citizenship, residence
permits and tax domiciles to foreign investors (hereinafter: investment migration)
must respect the legal standards set by the Council of Europe, as
well as relevant international legal standards designed to prevent
corruption, money laundering and the financing of terrorism. Fugitive
criminals, beneficiaries of financial proceeds from crime and individuals
seeking to evade their tax obligations should not be allowed to
benefit from immigration schemes which lawfully attract foreign
investors. The acquisition of nationality should continue to be
based on the traditional grounds of birth (ius
sanguinis or ius soli)
or long-term legal residence. Legal residence status which, over
time, may evolve into citizenship could, however, continue to be
granted in order to allow a person to manage a legitimate business
investment in the country concerned.
2. The Assembly considers that citizenship should not be for
sale. “Golden Passport” schemes have proven to be dangerous gateways
for corruption, organised crime, money laundering, the financing
of terrorism, tax evasion and foreign interference in political
and social processes. Sale of citizenship also violates the principle
of equality before the law and undermines social cohesion by weakening
the traditional link between a person’s citizenship and the rights
and duties attached to it. Finally, such schemes have pushed up housing
costs for local populations, who find themselves priced out of the
market by rich, often largely absent newcomers.
3. The Assembly points out that granting citizenship or residency
status to persons endangering public order and safety in one European
Union member State (in particular, one belonging to the Schengen
area of free movement without border checks) also places the interests
of all other European States at risk. These countries have a common
interest in the proper functioning of legal instruments designed
to prevent corruption, money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
4. The Assembly recalls the European Convention on Nationality
(ETS No. 166) as well as the Convention on the Reduction of Cases
of Multiple Nationality and on Military Obligations in Cases of
Multiple Nationality and its protocols (ETS Nos. 43, 95, 96 and
149) and reminds member States that the award and withdrawal of national
citizenship should follow established rules. While a State Party
to the European Convention on Nationality shall provide in its internal
law for the possibility of naturalisation of persons lawfully and
habitually resident on its territory, the acquisition of another
nationality can lead, ex lege or
at the initiative of a State Party, to the loss of the original
nationality. The acquisition or even accumulation of sham citizenships
for undue purposes should thereby be prevented.
5. Aware that beneficiaries of the proceeds from crime logically
seek to hide those proceeds from law enforcement by transferring
them abroad, the Assembly recalls the Council of Europe Convention
on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds
from Crime and on the Financing of Terrorism (CETS No. 198) and
the Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of
the Proceeds from Crime (ETS No. 141) as well as the work of the
Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering
Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (MONEYVAL) and the Financial
Action Task Force (FATF). Member States should do their utmost to
ensure that investment migration does not become a tool for international
money laundering.
6. The Assembly recalls the European Convention on Extradition
and its protocols (ETS Nos. 24, 86, 98 and CETS Nos. 209 and 212),
the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters
and its protocols (ETS Nos. 30, 99 and 182) as well as the European
Convention on the International Validity of Criminal Judgments (ETS
No. 70). The Assembly emphasises that member States should not become complicit
in crime by harbouring fugitive criminals and awarding them citizenship
and residence permits in order to evade law enforcement in another
country.
7. The Assembly welcomes the work of the non-governmental organisation
(NGO) Tax Justice Network and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD) standards on transparency and exchange of
information for tax purposes and recalls the Convention on Mutual
Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters and its protocol (ETS No. 127
and CETS No. 208) as well as the European Convention on the Obtaining
Abroad of Information and Evidence in Administrative Matters (ETS
No. 100). Member States should not attract investment migration
by offering an undue tax shelter for assets and revenue generated
abroad.
8. Aware of reports by the NGOs Organized Crime and Corruption
Reporting Project and Transparency International about so-called
“golden visas”, the Assembly recalls the Criminal Law Convention
on Corruption (ETS No. 173) and the Civil Law Convention on Corruption
(ETS No. 174) as well as the work of the Group of States against
Corruption (GRECO). Member States should ensure that immigration
is not based on corrupt practices by domestic administrations and
that any conflicts of interest are avoided in the process of selecting and
advising immigration applicants, vetting them and deciding whether
to grant residence status or citizenship. Citizenship, residence
permits and tax domiciles must not be awarded as a result of corruption because
this would undermine the rule of law and the democratic stability
of a State.
9. Conscious that investment migration might be a means of reducing
visa requirements for travel, the Assembly welcomes the bilateral
treaties between member States or with third States which waive
visa requirements for the citizens of those countries. The Assembly
invites member States to use the European Agreement on Regulations
governing the Movement of Persons between Member States of the Council
of Europe (ETS No. 25) to facilitate travel between signatory States
which are outside the Schengen area.
10. During the Covid-19 pandemic, national and regional authorities
have banned the entry of foreigners to their territories as well
as the use of second homes. Mixed nationality families have been
particularly affected by such bans, as some were granted entry while
others were not. Therefore, the Assembly emphasises the importance
of protecting private and family life under Article 8 of the European
Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5, the Convention), as well
as property under Article 1 of the Protocol to the Convention (ETS
No. 9), even during a health emergency.
11. The Assembly calls on member States which still have investment
migration schemes to phase them out as soon as possible and, in
the meantime, to take all necessary precautions in order to prevent
the entry of persons posing a threat to public order, and to ensure
the departure of any such persons who have already entered the country
under such schemes. Member States should, in particular:
11.1 subject applicants to rigorous
due diligence checks, avoiding conflicts of interest and opportunities
for bribery; ensure complete transparency of the investment migration
process, including by publishing the policy and procedure applied,
as well as regular, detailed, nominative information on successful
applications; and institute effective, independent oversight mechanisms
and robust whistle-blowing mechanisms through which concerns may
be reported;
11.2 sign and ratify without further delay the above-mentioned
Council of Europe conventions, if they have not yet done so;
11.3 comply with the respective recommendations contained in
country reports by GRECO and MONEYVAL as well as the recommendations
by the FATF, and inform their national parliament thereof;
11.4 inform relevant member States, when citizenship or a residence
permit is awarded to their nationals, with due regard to the protection
of personal data; cases of multiple citizenship and residence permits
should be known to the countries where these persons hold citizenship;
11.5 ensure that any investment, especially if it comes from
abroad and occurs in the context of investment migration, is made
with the highest levels of transparency and traceability, including identification
of the natural or legal persons on whose behalf or in whose name(s)
such investment is made, as well as identification of the origin
or source of the investment;
11.6 refrain from awarding citizenship or residence permits
to foreign investors, where such investment is effectuated in goods
or funds with little or no transparency, such as anonymous funds, beneficial
ownership schemes, investments held by trustees or third parties,
cryptocurrency funds, art or other movable property; investment
in real estate should become more transparent through mandatory public
land registers, which allow such real estate to be seized by the
competent authorities if the illegality of an investment is established;
11.7 co-operate closely with other member States where it is
established that proceeds from crime have been used for investment
migration and ensure that any unlawful investment is returned to
the legitimate owner or State;
11.8 pursue concerted action with other member States against
tax evasion through investment migration, which delocalises assets
and revenue from where they have been generated;
11.9 set up domestic rules and procedures for the withdrawal
of citizenship, where it has been awarded through corruption or
the investment of proceeds from crime, or where it is used as an
unlawful shield against law-enforcement action by another member
State, unless such withdrawal would lead to statelessness.
12. The Assembly invites the European Parliament and the Council
of the European Union to prepare the accession of the European Union
to the above-mentioned conventions of the Council of Europe, if
the European Union is not yet a signatory.
