The Dutch Government has responded to the European Commission report warning EU Member States increasingly sell golden visas and passports to wealthy.
Netherlands has a golden visa scheme running 2013 offering residence to investors against EUR 1,250,000 in dutch businesses and investment funds. According to EU report, but the scheme has struggled to take off and received low response from foreign investors as only only 12 applications received from the scheme.
The State Secretary Harbers (Justice and Security), also on behalf of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the State Secretary of the Interior and Kingdom Relations responded regarding golden visas and passports in responding to parliamentary questions.
When asked about so-called “golden passports” and “golden visas” can pose a problem for the entire European Union (EU), he said – It may be a problem when Member States do not adequately review public order and national security when issuing “golden passports” and “golden visas”.
When asked about The European Commission has indicated that it closely monitors this issue for potential risks and for compatibility with EU law, an expert group will be set up for this, among other things. In that context, the Netherlands will participate in the discussion at EU level on this subject., said Harbers
The Netherlands has had an admission scheme for foreign investors since 2013; however, the application for a residence permit is strictly reviewed, including by submitting it to the Financial Intelligence Unit in both the Netherlands and the investor’s country of origin. This considerably reduces the risk of money laundering and tax avoidance.
“There is no integration obligation for foreign investors”, he said
Each state determines, under international law and subject to the limitations set out therein, its own nationals under its own legislation. The EU has no direct competence in this regard, but since citizenship of a Member State also means EU citizenship, the Commission sees opportunities to monitor whether the schemes that provide citizenship to investors are in compliance with the EU law. I therefore await the proposals from Commissioner Jourová with interest.
“I want to make a distinction between obtaining nationality and a residence permit.. It is up to the country to determine whether national (legal) conditions for issuing a passport have been met. ” said Harbers
He made it clear that “In the Netherlands, acquiring a nationality is not seen that can be purchased”. He also mentioned The Netherlands does not have a scheme whereby passports are issued to people who bring “enough money” to be admitted to Dutch citizenship, when asked how many passports Netherlands issued to rich people.
When responding to Malta, Cyprus have the least strict golden visa arrangements, Harbers said Croatia has the most flexible arrangement. He added
“I would like to point out that each Member State has the power to introduce an admission scheme for foreign investors. As long as those schemes do not conflict with EU law or international law, I see no reason to specifically assess these schemes. ”
No regulations have been identified by the OECD for the Netherlands as risky, he said when asked about OECD concerns about tax evasion.
The Evaluation of the Modern Migration Policy Act is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2019 which includes golden visa visa scheme.
Based on this evaluation, it can be assessed in due course whether it is desirable that admission regulations be adjusted. The admission scheme for foreign investors is one of those schemes.
