Sale Of ‘Golden’ Passports In Breach of EU Law, European Commission Warns Malta
The European Commission has formally warned Malta against the sale of passports, which it states is in breach of EU law.
In a formal letter to the Maltese government, the Commission expressed concerns that the granting of Maltese citizenship – which automatically makes one an EU citizen – for a pre-determined payment or investment, without any genuine link to Malta, is in breach of EU law.
The Commission says the citizenship schemes undermine EU citizenship and affect the EU as a whole. By obtaining an EU Member State’s citizenship, one automatically becomes an EU citizen. This gives the right to free movement, access to the EU internal market, and the right to vote and contest European and local elections.
Although the EU always expressed its opposition to such schemes, the Commission said that “the inherent risks of such schemes have once again been highlighted in the context of the Russian aggression against Ukraine”.
On the 28th March, the Commission issued a recommendation that urged Member States to immediately repeal any existing investor citizenship schemes and to ensure strong checks are in place to address the risks posed by investor residence schemes.
The Commission also warned that Belarusian and Russian nationals against whom sanctions have been made may still be travelling freely in the Schengen Area if they bought EU citizenship.
In October 2020, the Commission decided to send a formal notice letter to Malta, requesting that it end its citizenship scheme and followed it up with a subsequent letter in June 2021, following the introduction of a new scheme by Malta at the end of 2020.
The Commission acknowledged that Malta suspending sales of passports to Russian and Belarusian nationals is a positive step. However, it noted that Malta has not given any indication that the scheme will stop entirely for all other nationals.
The Commission, therefore, considers such a scheme as in breach of the principle of sincere cooperation and infringes the states of citizenship of the EU as laid down in Article 20 of the TFEU.
The Commission has given Malta two months to reply. If the reply is not considered satisfactory, the Commission is considering bringing the matter before the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Do you think Malta will stop the passport scheme?
READ NEXT: Young Mqabba Mayor Omar Farrugia And ICT School Founder Ray Abela Elected To Parliament
