The sale of passports to the super wealthy gives free reign to mobsters and money launderers, Europe warns

Shutterstock/Razvan Ionut Dragomirescu

A yacht in Malta, one of the countries that the EU is examining in its report on "citizenship for sale."

• The European Union is set to advise member nations how to root out abuse when selling residence or citizenship, a practice that critics warn gives free reign to foreign criminals operating in Europe.
• Brussels is specifically examining the "citizenship for sale" programs operated by Malta, Cyprus and Bulgaria, the Financial Times reported.
• Some 20 EU countries, including the UK, Portugal and Spain, offer some level of residency to wealthy non-citizens.

The European Union is set to advise member nations on how to root out abuse when selling residence or citizenship, a practice that critics warn gives free reign to foreign criminals operating in Europe.

Brussels is specifically examining the "citizenship for sale" programs operated by Malta, Cyprus and Bulgaria, the Financial Times reported.

Some 20 EU countries, including the UK, Portugal and Spain, offer some level of residency to wealthy non-citizens in return for large investments. Along with the travel benefits and the elite status that comes with owning citizenship in another country, the programs also allow passport holders to own real estate and manage their tax burdens.

In exchange, the governments get investments in their property or bond markets, or get paid directly into their budget coffers. Other programs offer "elite residency" - an extended visa with perks - in exchange for similar investments.

Read more: 23 countries where money can buy you a second passport or 'elite residency'

Europe's lawmaking arm, the European Commission, is set to warn of the practice - which can be worth millions of euros - in a report due on Wednesday.

The report, which the FT has seen, identifies a list of worries about the programs:

"Investor citizenship and residence schemes create a range of risks for member states and for the union as a whole: in particular, risks to security, including the possibility of infiltration of non-EU organised crime groups, as well as risks of money-laundering, corruption and tax evasion," a draft version of the report says, according to the FT.

EU countries have received about €25 billion ($28 billion) in foreign investment in the past decade from programs that offer residency or citizenship in exchange, the FT said, citing research from Global Witness and Transparency International.