EU Court of Justice annulls Malta’s “golden passports”
30 April 05:16
The EU’s Supreme Court has declared illegal the controversial “golden passport” program in Malta, which allows foreigners to obtain EU citizenship for investments exceeding 690 thousand euros. This decision was made by the Court of Justice of the European Union, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
“This scheme is a commercialization of the granting of Member State citizenship, and thus EU citizenship, which is contrary to European law. The court argued that Malta’s actions undermined the mutual trust between EU member states necessary for the creation of a zone without internal borders,” The Guardian writes.
The court examined a scheme introduced in 2020 that allowed individuals to obtain citizenship by investing up to 750 thousand euros in Malta and theoretically spending 12 months there. Together with a Maltese passport, they acquired EU citizenship and the freedom to live and work in any country of the Union.
This scheme, launched in 2014, has long been criticized for creating conditions for money laundering, corruption, and security risks. A 2021 investigation found that multimillionaires with minimal ties to Malta were granted citizenship, sometimes after spending only three weeks in the country.
In October 2020, the European Commission launched legal proceedings against Malta and Cyprus for selling “EU citizenship”. Cyprus announced the closure of its scheme shortly before the case was initiated, but the Maltese government disagreed and argued that it had exclusive competence to grant citizenship, so it had the right to run the scheme.
In response to the decision, the Maltese government said it was studying its legal implications for adapting the regulatory framework, while emphasizing that the scheme has generated more than €1.4 billion in revenue since 2015.
A spokesperson for the European Commission welcomed the court’s decision and called on Malta to comply with it.
“European citizenship is not for sale. Citizenship schemes for investors violate EU law and should therefore be abolished by all member states,” the spokesperson said.
