EU top court rules Malta's 'golden passport' scheme illegal

The European Court of Justice (ECJ), the EU's highest tribunal successful Luxembourg, connected Tuesday ordered Malta to extremity its "golden passport" program, saying it violates European Union law.

"A Member State cannot assistance its nationality — and so European citizenship — successful speech for predetermined payments oregon investments," the tribunal wrote successful a quality release.

"This fundamentally amounts to rendering the acquisition of nationality a specified commercialized transaction," it added.

A Maltese instrumentality that fast-tracks the naturalization of overseas investors has agelong been criticized by anti-corruption advocates and EU officials for facilitating white-collar transgression and sanctions evasion.

What are the conditions of the program?

The European Commission lodged a ailment against the 2020 amendment to the Maltese citizenship law, which allowed investors who conscionable a database of fiscal requirements to use for Maltese citizenship aft surviving successful the state for 12 months.

The requirements see owning a spot worthy €700,000 ($798,000) oregon paying yearly rent of astatine slightest €16,000, making a important publication to the Maltese authorities and donating to a non-governmental organization.

Malta "must comply with the Court's judgement without delay," the ECJ said. If the state fails to bash so, the European Commission whitethorn record different enactment seeking fiscal penalties.

Malta's "golden passport" programme requirements see owning a spot worthy €700,000 ($798,000) oregon paying yearly rent of astatine slightest €16,000Image: Government of Malta

What was the absorption of Malta?

The Maltese authorities said successful a connection that it would respect the court's determination portion it studied the "legal implications" of the ruling. It defended the program, saying it had brought €1.4 cardinal euros ($1.6 billion) to the land federation since 2015.

Joseph Muscat, the erstwhile premier curate who introduced the program, posted connected Facebook that the ruling was "politically motivated" and that Malta's programme should beryllium reformed alternatively than scrapped.

Malta is the lone EU state that inactive has a alleged "golden passport" program, which has been challenged by EU institutions for years. Cyprus ended its citizenship-by-investment strategy successful 2020. Bulgaria's parliament voted to extremity a akin programme successful 2022.

Transparency advocates invited the ruling

However, Maltese writer Matthew Caruana Galizia said the strategy did not payment Malta. He hailed the ruling arsenic "a triumph for the radical of  Malta and for each EU residents who person been unfairly exposed to the whims of wealth launderers and corrupt criminals buying their mode into the EU."

Galizia is the lad of Daphne Caruana Galizia, a Maltese writer who focused connected corruption and was killed by a weaponry successful 2017.

Transparency International besides praised the ruling. "Today's judgement confirms that subordinate states cannot commodify EU citizenship and run reckless aureate passport programmes... The ruling stops not lone Malta from selling EU citizenship, but volition besides forestall different subordinate states from doing the same," the organization's main Maira Martini said.

The tribunal ruling besides comes soon aft US President Donald Trump said he plans to motorboat a "gold card" visa program that includes a imaginable way to US citizenship for $5 million.

Edited by: Jenipher Camino Gonzalez