The EU Commission issued a host of proposals that aim to amend its visa-free entry regulations, and among them was adding a clause to its visa suspension mechanism that would allow them to invalidate their visa-free waivers with countries that operate Citizenship by Investment Programs (CIPs).

As it stands, the EU mechanism for suspending visa-free entry has four pillars:

• Substantial increase (more than 50%) in irregular arrivals from visa-free countries, including overstays and border refusals.

• Significant rise (more than 50%) in asylum applications from countries with low recognition rates (around 3-4%).

• Decreased cooperation on readmission.

• Heightened security risk to Member States.

The latest proposal would add operating a CIP to that list and would effectively pave the way for the EU to deny the nationals of Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts & Nevis, and St Lucia from entering the EU visa-free.

This would also prove a massive stumbling block for Turkish visa-free negotiations, which have been ongoing for a while.

The Commission's report cited over 88,000 naturalizations through CIP programs and that the approval rate of 94-97% was also a concern. It also concluded that the EU was monitoring the issue, stating that "at the moment, a number of visa-free third countries are under close scrutiny due to the potential risks raised by their investor citizenship schemes, or their plans to establish such schemes."

Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson highlighted that there were "emerging challenges related to visa-free travel that we need to be ready to address. This is why we need to reinforce our monitoring of the EU visa-free regimes and to have a stronger Visa-Suspension Mechanism."

The proposal will be considered by the Members ' representatives in the Commission, and if it is drafted into a bill, it will be voted on by the EU Parliament.