The European Parliament (specifically its Committee on Civil Liberties, LIBE) has published a draft amendment to the law that touches on the topic of EU visa rules. It mentions, among other things, countries that have a visa-free entry agreement with the European Union and at the same time have investment citizenship programs (CBI). According to a published document with draft amendments, parliamentarians want to tighten the rules regarding the potential suspension or complete termination of visa-free agreements.
What are the reasons for the suspension of the visa-free agreement?
The draft law mentions that reasons for terminating such agreements may include a lack of comprehensive security checks, vetting procedures and due diligence by such third countries with regard to investor citizenship schemes pose several serious security risks for Union citizens, such as those stemming from money laundering and corruption.
All these arguments have already been made; in 2024, the Caribbean countries carried out a general reform (the Memorandum), within the framework of which they strengthened (thus, serious) control over the verification of candidates, introduced mandatory interviews, increased the minimum cost of investment, etc.
So, what changes will such a project bring to life? How does it threaten Caribbean CBI programs? Nuri Katz, President and Founder of Apex Capital Partners, answers.
«Each country in the Caribbean Five has an individual visa-free agreement with the EU. Let’s take Saint Kitts and Nevis as an example. This is an agreement from 2009, which has a clause stating that the obligations can be terminated within two months for virtually any reason upon notice. Antigua, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Dominica have similar visa-free agreements with the EU. So, there is nothing new in the fact that the European Parliament has granted the European Union a right that they already have. If the European Commission wanted to cancel the visa-free agreement, it could do so very easily by giving two months’ notice. Therefore, this step by the European Parliament is simply very symbolic and nothing more».
How Vanuatu citizens were deprived of the right to visa-free entry to the EU
Recall that the only time the European Commission used its right to cancel the visa-free entry for a country with an investment citizenship program was the case with the island state of Vanuatu. Then, Parliamentarians, quite predictably, asked Vanuatu to tighten checks, which have never been at the same level as those of the Caribbean programs (including the level of due diligence).
In March 2022, the visa-free regime for Vanuatu citizens was temporarily suspended, and in November 2024 it was finally cancelled. It should be noted that Vanuatu chose not to refuse to accept applications from Russians, which the Caribbean countries had already refused in 2022. The story with Vanuatu shows that, despite the existing claims, the EU is ready to give second chances to its “small” partners. Although it has all the tools to terminate the granted privileges.
