Since 2021, when the European Commission called for a feasibility study on the creation of an asset register for all citizens, alarmism in the alternative press and on social networks about the inevitable implementation of this asset register to have absolute control over the population has become the norm. What are the facts, beyond media sensationalism?

In the context of the fight against money laundering and tax evasion, in July 2021, the European Commission launched a tender for a feasibility study for a centralised European register of the assets of all its citizens.

This project aimed to analyse the feasibility of establishing an asset register that could later be discussed as a future policy initiative. Its objective was to study how to collect and link available information on asset ownership from various sources and Member States and to analyse the design, scope, and challenges of such an EU asset register.

In addition, the Commission requested that the study consider ‘the possibility of including in the register, data relating to the ownership of other assets, such as cryptocurrencies, works of art, real estate and gold’. The intention was to get an overview of the possible resources that would be needed to carry out such a registry, as well as the operational and IT challenges, and the political and legal feasibility of the proposal.

A call for civil resistance

As soon as the call for a tender was made public, harsh criticism emerged against the proposal, arguing that it represented a danger to the freedom and civil rights of European citizens. That these new measures were prescribed without sense or understanding and out of pure greed for power by the political caste.

This prompted an avalanche of questions in the European Parliament: on what legal basis does the Commission intend to set up this central register of assets, can the Commission rule out the possibility of additional taxes on EU citizens being introduced in future via this register, and does the Commission intend to bring the register into line with data protection legislation?

Rolf von Hohenhau, president of the Association of European Taxpayers (TAE), warned that ‘If citizens give their support, they will lose all their personal rights through a bureaucratic back door. Under the pretext of preventing money laundering, we will all be investigated’. And he instigated the population to ‘take to the streets like the yellow waistcoats in France.’

Dutch lawyer Ellen Timmer gave an analysis of the initiative and noted that ‘It is not explained why the asset registers held by the tax authorities are not sufficient and what additional value is to be expected from the new asset register.’ At the same time, social media exploded with content going viral warning about the European Commission’s plan.

Meanwhile, a Commission spokesperson told EURACTIV that ‘The feasibility study is in no way indicative of any plans to establish an EU-wide asset register’, adding that such a register was not included in the Commission’s package of legislative proposals to combat money laundering.

Sanctions against Russia

On 17 March 2022, the European Commission launched the Freeze and Seize Taskforce, to facilitate coordination between member state authorities in implementing sanctions against Russian and Belarusian oligarchs.

In this context, Theresa Neef, Gabriel Zucman and Thomas Piketty of the EU Fiscal Observatory and the Global Inequality Lab presented a proposal for a European Asset Register that would connect information on the ownership of European assets across the EU. In other words, supporting the European Commission’s project under the justification of strengthening sanctions against Russia.

The Greens/EFA party, on the other hand, was clearly in favour of this new regulation: ‘All EU countries should create registers with beneficial ownership information including all these types of assets. These registers would have to be interconnected and freely accessible through a single European access point’.

The study’s conclusions

In March 2024, the conclusions of the study requested by the European Commission were presented: ‘The creation of comprehensive registers denoting the ownership and value of assets, which are exhaustive and complete, proved mostly unfeasible from an operational point of view for this group of assets’.

Earlier, European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer had already clarified that: ‘The European Commission has no intention of establishing a central database on EU citizens’ assets. It is true that the Commission is currently carrying out a study at the request of the European Parliament on the practicality of registering assets to EU Member States. This general study only shows what mechanisms are in place in the 27 Member States. The Commission is not planning any activities based on the results of this study’.

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