The scheme of Malta’s golden passport violates the EU law, higher court rules

The so-called Malta Gold Passport Scheme, which allows people to become citizens through financial investment, contradicts European legislation, has ruled that the EU’s best court.

The EU Commission brought Malta to court in 2022 because of the scheme provided to foreigners Maltese passport and thus the right to live and work in each EU country in exchange for the payment of at least 600,000 euros (509,619 British pounds), the purchase or rental of a certain value and donated EUR 10,000.

The EU court said the scheme “represents the acquisition of nationality simply a commercial transaction”.

The Malta government has not yet responded to the decision that former Prime Minister Joseph Maskat called “political.”

He said he believed that the scheme could continue with “some changes.”

The country risks huge fines if it does not follow the decision.

The EU court said “the acquisition of Union citizenship cannot be the result of a commercial transaction.”

Malta repeatedly insisted that she was correct in the interpretation of EU contracts, Reuters News reported.

In 2022, she stopped the scheme for Russian and Belarusian citizens after the invasion of Russia and the repression of Europe against related to the Kremlin.

The Tuesday’s decision was contrary to a report last October by the general defender of the court at that time Anthony Collins.

He said the Commission did not manage to prove that the EU law requires a “true connection” between the person and the country to provide legal citizenship, adding that every Member State is to decide who is “to be one of their citizens and as a result of who is an EU citizen”.

Although every EU Member State determines how they provide nationality, the court stated that Malta’s scheme “threatens mutual trust” between Member States.

The EU has Early urged the countries to end the practiceNoting that investor citizenship schemes carry “inherent” security problems, as well as risks of money laundering, tax evasion and corruption.