ISSUE: 1/2021

  • Volume 25
  • Number 1
  • 2021

Subscribe NEWSLETTER

Studia Europejskie –
Studies in European Affairs

ISSN: 1428-149X
e-ISSN: 2719-3780

Ccbync License

License

Articles published in the journal are under a Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial – No Derivatives 4.0 International License

Policing the Genuine Purity of Blood: The EU Commission’s Assault on Citizenship and Residence by Investment and the Future of Citizenship in the European Union

Abstract

This article provides a brief critical assessment of the European Commission’s January 2019 “Report on Investor Citizenship and Residence Schemes in the European Union”. Since it is the first detailed document by the Commission outlining this institution’s position on the matters of investment residence and citizenship, and given the Commission’s recently articulated intentions to take Cyprus and Malta to Court over their investment migration law and practice, the Report in question is of paramount importance. The document sets the legal-political context of the regulation of the migration of wealthy third-country nationals in Europe. It is also deeply flawed. Rather that summarising the document, this article focuses on five core defi ciencies of the Commission’s embarrassing product and demonstrates how the Commission failed to get the EU’s own law right, in addition to showing a poor understanding of international law on the matter. Ripe with nationalist assumptions not rooted in the Treaties or the secondary law of the Union and showcasing a timid, convoluted and inconsistent analysis of the issues it purports to address, the Report has unsurprisingly failed to change the landscape of regulation in the field of investment citizenship and residence in the EU or anywhere else in the world. What it did make clear, however, was that the mere political suspicion of a particular type of naturalisation is enough for the European Commission to set aside the law and misinform the public, underlying once again the problematic tension between the growing political nature of this institution and its key task as guardian of the Treaties. There is a burning need for the Commission to take a more careful, coherent and informed approach to its actions, an approach indispensable for the preservation of the rule of law in the Union.

References

Abrams J., Examining Entrenched Masculinities in the Republican Government Tradition, “West Virginia Law Review”, no. 114/2011.

Bansak K., Hainmueller J., Hangartner D., How Economic, Humanitarian, and Religious Concerns Shape European Attitudes toward Asylum Seekers, “Sciene”, no. 354(6309)/2016, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science. aag2147.

van der Baaren L., Investor Citizenship and State Sovereignty in International Law, in: Citizenship and Residence Sales: Rethinking the Boundaries of Belonging, eds. D. Kochenov, K. Surak, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2021 (forthcoming).

Baudenbacher C., “Goldene Pässe” – fragwürdige Aktionismus des EU-Kommission, “Neue Züricher Zeitung” 2020.

Bleckmann A., The Personal Jurisdiction of the European Community, “Common Market Law Review”, no. 467(17)/1980.

Bosniak L., The Citizen and the Alien, Princeton University Press, Princeton 2006.

van den Brink M., Investment Residence and the Concept of Residence in EU Law: Interactions, Tensions, and Opportunities, “Investment Migration Research Papers”, no. 1/2017.

van den Brink M., Investor Citizenship and EU Law: Much to Do about Nothing?, GlobalCit blog, 30 Oct. 2020.

van den Brink M., Revising Citizenship within the European Union: Is a Genuine Link Requirement the Way Forward?, “EUI Working Papers RSCAS”, no. 76/2020.

Brubaker R., Citizenship and Nationhood in France and Germany, Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA 1992.

Carens J., Aliens and Citizens: The Case for Open Borders, “Review of Politics”, no. 251(47)/1987, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0034670500033817.

Carens J., The Ethics of Immigration, Oxford University Press Oxford 2013.

Carrera S., The Price of EU Citizenship: The Maltese Citizenship-for-Sale Affair and the Principle of Sincere Cooperation in Nationality Matters, “CEPS Policy Brief ” 2015, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1023263X1402100302.

Citizenship and Residence Sales: Rethinking the Boundaries of Belonging, eds. D. Kochenov, K. Surak, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2021 (forthcoming).

Cohen M., The Re-Invention of Investment Immigration in Canada and Constructions of Canadian Citizenship, “Investment Migration Research Papers”, no. 2/2017, DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3613249.

Cohen S., Folk Devils and Moral Panics: The Creation of Mods and Rockers, MacGibbon and Kee, Grenada 1972.

Corrado M., Marsh K., Investment Migration and the Importance of Due Diligence: Examples of Canada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and the EU, in: Citizenship and Residence Sales: Rethinking the Boundaries of Belonging, eds. D. Kochenov, K. Surak, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2021 (forthcoming).

Davies G., Nationality Discrimination in the Internal Market, Kluwer Law International, The Hague 2013. Dawson M., Holding the Political Commission Accountable, Verfassungsblog debate, 2020.

Europe’s Justice Deficit?, eds. D. Kochenov, G. de Búrca, A. Williams, Hart Publishing, Oxford 2015.

Frankfurt H., On Bullshit, Princeton University Press, Princeton 2005.

Ganty S., L’intégration des citoyens européens et des ressortissants de pays tiers en droit de l’Union européenne. Critique d’une intégration choisie, Larcier, Paris 2021.

Gotev G., Thousands obtained EU citizenship for €5000 in Bulgarian scam, Euractiv, 30 October 2018.

de Groot D., Free Movement of Dual EU Citizens, in: European Citizenship under Stress: Social Justice, Brexit, and Other Challenges, eds. N. Cambien, D. Kochenov, E. Muir, Brill-Nijhoff, Boston 2020.

Hansen P., Jonsson S., Eurafrica: The Untold Story of European Integration and Colonialism, Bloomsbury Academic, London 2014.

Harpaz Y., Citizenship 2.0: Dual Nationality as a Global Asset, Princeton University Press, Princeton 2019, DOI: https://doi.org/10.23943/princeton/9780691194066.001.0001.

Jessurun d’Oliveira, H.U., Tjebbes en aanhangend nationaliteit, “Nederlands Juristenblad”, no. 37/2019.

Jessurun d’Oliveira, H.U., Union Citizenship and beyond, in: European Citizenship under Stress: Social Justice, Brexit, and Other Challenges, eds. N. Cambien, D. Kochenov, E. Muir, Brill-Nijhoff, Boston 2020.

Joppke C., Citizenship between De- and Re-Ethnicization, “European Journal of Sociology”, no. 429(44)/2003, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003975603001346.

Joppke C. Citizenship and Immigration, Polity, Cambridge 2010.

Joppke C., The Instrumental Turn of Citizenship, “Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies”, no. 858(45)/2019, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13 69183X.2018.1440484.

Kälin and Kochenov’s Quality of Nationality Index, eds. D. Kochenov, J. Lindeboom, Hart Publishing, Oxford 2020, DOI: https://doi. org/10.5040/9781509933242.

Kälin C., Ius Doni in International and European Law, Brill-Nijhoff, Boston 2019, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004357525.

Kendall E., Green Cards as the Ultimate Dividends: Why Improving the US Investment Visa Program Will Encourage the Economic Recovery by Increasing Foreign Investment and Creating Jobs for Americans, “Georgetown Immigration Law Journal”, no. 580(27)/2013.

Klamert M., The Principle of Loyalty in EU Law, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2014, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199683123.001.0001.

Kochenov D., Ius Tractum of Many Faces: European Citizenship and the Difficult Relationship between Status and Rights, “Columbia Journal of European Law”, no. 169(15)/2009.

Kochenov D., Rounding up the Circle: The Mutation of Member States Nationalities under Pressure from EU Citizenship, “EUI RSCAS Working Paper”, no. 23/2010.

Kochenov D., Mevrouw De Jong Gaat Eten: EU Citizenship and the Culture of Prejudice, “EUI RSCAS Working Paper”, no. 6/2011.

Kochenov D., Citizenship for Real: Its Hypocrisy, Its Randomness, Its Price, in: Debating Transformations of National Citizenship, ed. R. Bauböck, Springer, Berlin 2018, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92719-0_11.

Kochenov D., Citizenship, MIT Press, Cambridge MA 2019, DOI: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/11351.001.0001.

Kochenov D., The Oxymoron of “Market Citizenship” and the Future of the European Union, in: The Internal Market and the Future of European Integration: Essays in Honour of Laurence W. Gormley, ed. F. Amtenbrink et al., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2019, DOI: https://doi. org/10.1017/9781108565417.016.

Kochenov D., The Tjebbes Fail, “European Papers”, no. 319(4)/2019.

Kochenov D., “Passport Trade”: The Vicious Circle of Nonesense in the Netherlands’, Verfassungsblog, 8 June 2020.

Kochenov D., van den Brink M., Pretending There Is No Union: Non-Derivative Quasi-Citizenship Rights of Third-Country Nationals in the EU, in: Degrees of Free Movement and Citizenship, eds. D. Thym, M. ZoetewijTurhan, Brill/Nijhoff, Leiden 2015, DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2587661.

Kochenov D., Lindeboom J., Empirical Assessment of the Quality of Nationalities, “European Journal of Law and Governance”, no. 314(4)/2017, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/22134514-00404007.

Kochenov D., Lindeboom J., Pluralism Through its Denial, in: Research Handbook on Legal Pluralism and EU Law, eds. G. Davies, M. Avbelj, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham 2018.

Kostakopoulou D., Why Naturalization?, “Perspectives on European Politics and Society”, no. 85(3)/2003, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/ 15705850308438854.

Lester A., Thirty Years on: The East African Case Revisited, “Public Law”, no. 52(47)/2002.

Lindeboom J., Meunier S., Foreign Direct Investment and Investment Migration Programmes in the European Union, in: Citizenship and Residence Sales: Rethinking the Boundaries of Belonging, eds. D. Kochenov, K. Surak, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2021 (forthcoming).

Margiotta C., Ricchi e poveri alla prova della cittadinanza europea. Annotazioni sulla Relazione della Commissione europea sui programmi di cittadinanza per investitori, “Ragion Pratica”, no. 2/2020.

Maas W., Creating European Citizens, Rowman and Littlefield, Boston 2007. Milanovic B., Global Inequality, Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA 2018.

O’Brien C., Unity in Adversity, Hart Publishing, Oxford 2017. Popov V., Why Some Countries Have More Billionaires than Others? Explaining Variety in the Billionaire Intensity of GDP, “Investment Migration Research Papers”, no. 3/2018, DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3189026.

Prak M., Citizens without Nations, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2018, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316219027.

Reding V., Citizenship Must Not be Up for Sale, European Commission Speech, 14/18/2014. Roy S., The “Streetlight Effect” in Commentary on Citizenship by Investment, in: Citizenship and Residence Sales: Rethinking the Boundaries of Belonging, eds. D. Kochenov, K. Surak, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2021 (forthcoming).

Sarmiento D., EU Competence and the Attribution of Nationality in Member States, “Investment Migration Research Paper”, no. 2/2019.

Sarmiento D., van den Brink M., EU Competence and Investor Migration, in: Citizenship and Residence Sales: Rethinking the Boundaries of Belonging, eds. D. Kochenov, K. Surak, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2021 (forthcoming).

Shachar A., The Birthright Lottery, Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA 2009, DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvjhzr8r.

Shachar A., Dangerous Liasons: Money and Citizenship, in: Transformations of National Citizenship, ed. R. Bauböck, Debating, Springer, Berlin 2018, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92719-0_2.

Shachar, A., Citizenship for Sale?, in: The Oxford Handbook of Citizenship, ed. A. Shachar et al., Oxford University Press, Oxford 2019.

Shaw J., Citizenship for Sale: Could and Should the EU Intervene?, in: Debating Transformations of National Citizenship, ed. R. Bauböck, Springer, Berlin 2018, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319- 92719-0_13.

Solimano A., Global Mobility of the Wealthy and Their Assets: An Overview, “Investment Migration Research Papers”, no. 2/2018.

Spiro P., Cash-for-Passports and the End of Citizenship, in: Debating Transformations of National Citizenship, ed. R. Bauböck, Springer, Berlin 2018, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92719-0_3.

Spiro P., Nottebohm and “Genuine Link”: The Anatomy of Jurisprudential Illusion, “Investment Migration Research Paper”, no. 1/2019.

Sumption M., Can Investor Residence and Citizenship Programmes be a Policy Success?, in: Citizenship and Residence Sales: Rethinking the Boundaries of Belonging, eds. D. Kochenov, K. Surak, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2021 (forthcoming).

Sumption M., Hooper K., Selling Visas and Citizenship: Policy Questions from the Global Boom in Investor Immigration, Migration Policy Institute, Washington DC 2014.

Surak K., Global Citizenship 2.0 – The Growth of Citizenship by Investment Programmes, “Investment Migration Research Papers”, no. 3/2016.

Surak K., Millionaire Mobility and the Sale of Citizenship, “Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies”, no. 47(1) 2021, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1 369183X.2020.1758554.

Surak K., Citizenship 4 Sale, Harvard University Press. Cambridge MA (forthcoming).

Swider K., Legitimising Precarity of EU Citizenship: Tjebbes, “Common Market Law Review”, no. 1163(57)/2020.

Tanasoca A., Citizenship for Sale: Neomedieval Not Just Neoliberal, “European Journal of Sociology”, no. 169(57)/2016, DOI: https://doi. org/10.1017/S0003975616000059.

Thiele L., Decker S., Residence in the United States through Investment: Reality or Chimera, “Albany Government Law Review”, no. 103(3)/2010.

Toner H., Annotation Case C-192/99 Kaur [2001], “Common Market Law Review”, no. 881(37)/2002.

Tratnik M., Weingerl P., Investment Migration and State Autonomy: The Quest for the Relevant Link, “Investment Migration Research Papers”, no. 4/2019.

Tryfonidou A., Investment Residence in the UK: Past and Future, “Investment Migration Policy Brief ”, no. 1/2017.

Tully J., On Global Citizenship, Bloomsbury Academic, London 2014, DOI: https://doi.org/10.26530/OAPEN_479572.

Van Fossen A., Citizenship for Sale: Passports of Convenience from Pacific Island Tax Havens, “Commonwealth and Comparative Politics”, no. 45(138)/2007, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14662040701317477.

Weiler J.H.H., Europe: The Case against the Case of Statehood, “European Law Journal”, no. 43(4)/1998, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0386.00042.

Weingerl P., Tratnik M., Relevant Links: Investment Migration as an Expression of State Autonomy in Matters of Nationality, in: Citizenship and Residence Sales: Rethinking the Boundaries of Belonging, eds. D. Kochenov, K. Surak, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2021 (forthcoming).

Language: English

Pages: 33-62

How to Cite:

Harvard

Kochenov, D. (2021) "Policing the Genuine Purity of Blood: The EU Commission’s Assault on Citizenship and Residence by Investment and the Future of Citizenship in the European Union". Studia Europejskie – Studies in European Affairs, 1/2021, pp. 33-62. DOI: 10.33067/SE.1.2021.2

APA
Chicago