Investor Citizenship Schemes in the Western Balkans and the EU Enlargement

Abstract

Abstract

The investor citizenship programmes have been the subject of intense legal and policy debates within the EU over the past decade. In light of the evolving case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, the Member State investor citizenship programmes conflict with the requirements arising from EU law, particularly the Union citizenship and principle of sincere cooperation. These requirements therefore significantly constrain the Member States’ leeway, despite the fact that citizenship laws form a core part of Member States’ domestic legal regimes. The paper considers investor citizenship programmes in the context of EU enlargement in the Western Balkans and addresses the key question of whether strict EU law standards regarding investor citizenship schemes should be similarly applied to Western Balkan candidate countries regardless of the status or outcome of the accession negotiations. After the introduction, the first substantial part of the paper outlines the criteria by which EU law assesses these programmes, and the requirements with which Member States must comply. The second part examines the importance of investor citizenship programmes in Western Balkan states, the principles upon which these regulations were established and the effect of the EU accession process on existing programmes in recent years. In the conclusion the paper determines the policy and regulatory leeway of candidate countries, and the available alternatives to increase their ability to attract foreign capital on the path to European Union membership.