EU Court of Justice orders Malta to close its ‘golden passport’ program News
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EU Court of Justice orders Malta to close its ‘golden passport’ program

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) declared on Tuesday that the Republic of Malta’s “golden passport” program, where foreign investors could apply to be naturalized as a Maltese citizen for making direct investments, amounted to the commercialization of EU citizenship. This was found to be a violation of Malta’s obligations under Article 20 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and Article 4(3) of the Treaty of the European Union (TEU).

The court found that Malta’s citizenship program “for Exceptional Services by Direct Investment” which began in 2020 commercialized EU membership by gifting it to investors. The court relied on the fact that Malta specifically presented the scheme as offering the benefits of EU citizenship, including the right to “move and reside freely in the other Member States.”

The issue was referred to the CJEU by the European Commission in September 2022. The commission claimed that granting EU citizenship in exchange for “pre-determined payments or investments without any genuine link to the Member State concerned” is incompatible with the principle of sincere cooperation under Article 4(3) of the TEU and the concept of EU citizenship under Article 20 of the TFEU.

The scheme allows investors who contribute a minimum of €600,000 in direct investment to the Maltese government and have proof of residence in Malta for 36 months, or €750,000 and provide proof of residence for 12 months to be issued a certificate of naturalization if they own or rent immovable property in Malta reaching a minimum amount, subject to certain other requirements.

The program was created under Article 10(9) of the Maltese Citizenship Act, which provides that:

The Minister responsible for citizenship matters may grant a certificate of naturalization as a citizen of Malta to an alien or stateless person, who has rendered exceptional services to the Republic of Malta or to humanity, or whose naturalization is of exceptional interest to the Republic of Malta, and who satisfies the requirements prescribed under this Act.

The article applies notwithstanding other provisions of the act or any other Maltese law.

As of 2022, only three EU member states–Bulgaria, Cyprus and Malta–offered similar schemes granting nationality to attract investments. However, the commission identified 12 states that grant residence to attract investments. Whether granting residence, instead of citizenship, violates EU treaties remains to be observed.

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