Europe

Engaging Brussels: IMC Partakes in Euro-Parliament Debate, Meets With MEPs and Eur. Commission


The Investment Migration Council, the global association for Investment Migration, informs IMI that it has held “a series of positive and informative bilateral meetings with representatives of the European Parliament, the European Commission, the European Parliamentary Research Service, Member State Permanent Representations, and also took part in a debate on Investment Migration at the European Parliament in Brussels last week”.

The series of meetings marks the first formal dialogues between industry representatives and European regulators.

The IMC last month expressed dismay at the European Commission’s lack of consultation with the industry in connection with its publication of an extensive report on European investment migration programs, noting that “in order for workable solutions to be found and progress to be made it is essential that industry and the work of the IMC are included within future European Commission Communications and initiatives.”

The Council further indicated it had attempted to engage European policy-makers in dialogue “for some time” so as to be included in future policy development processes, but that the Commission had been unresponsive.

Now, it appears, Brussels is answering the calls.

In a statement, the IMC wrote that it was “pleased to engage with policy-makers from across the EU institutions to share their insights on how to best achieve the shared objectives of enhanced transparency, cooperation and fairness within Investment Migration globally,” and that it welcomed the chance to “demonstrate the fundamental societal and economic benefits of IM programmes sovereign states benefit from such as increased government revenue, employment creation, and enhanced infrastructure spending”.

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“looking forward to continued cooperation” with European lawmakers

The industry association noted it was prepared to continue engaging EU policy-makers and to cooperate on promoting high professional standards and education, not only among its own members but of the industry as a whole.

“We are developing new research into a number of priority areas and we have already shared some key findings with the European Commission, Members of the European Parliament, the European Parliamentary Research Service, the OECD, and other stakeholders,” said the statement.

Directing attention to the growing body of independent research publicly available on its website, the IMC emphasized its commitment to academic, peer-reviewed works on “key areas such as Minimum Standards in Due Diligence in IM Programmes, National Security and Investment Migration; Societal Benefits of Investment Migration; Financial Crimes and Investment Migration”.

Commenting on this series of initiatives, IMC chief executive Bruno L’ecuyer said “With the support of the industry making this engagement possible, we look forward to continued cooperation with the European Parliament, Commission, EU Member States, OECD, as well as other international organisations, in order to provide balance in the debate surrounding the industry” L’ecuyer goes on to say “Our objective is a rigorous, fair and formalised system for the specialised immigration category known as Investment Migration, with standards that will mitigate the risks of abuse”.

Christian Henrik Nesheim AdministratorKeymaster

Christian Henrik Nesheim is the founder and editor of Investment Migration Insider, the #1 magazine – online or offline – for residency and citizenship by investment. He is an internationally recognized expert, speaker, documentary producer, and writer on the subject of investment migration, whose work is cited in the Economist, Bloomberg, Fortune, Forbes, Newsweek, and Business Insider. Norwegian by birth, Christian has spent the last 16 years in the United States, China, Spain, and Portugal.

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