Malta “Golden Passport” scheme breaks the law, the rules of the Supreme Court in the European Union

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The European Court of Justice ruled that the “Golden Passport” plan in Malta violates the European Union law, in a decision that is scheduled to be forced to cancel the marketing of the nationality of the European Union.

The court said: “The member state cannot grant its nationality-and indeed European citizenship-in exchange for the pre-specified payments or investments, because this mainly amounts to obtaining a citizenship acquisition merely a commercial treatment,” the court said.

The European Commission indicated Malta To the Supreme Court of the mass in 2023 due to the citizenship plan for investment, on the pretext that the sale of European Union passports undermined the “European Union’s nationality”, which relies on mutual trust between member states.

Al -Malti scheme has effects on the entire mass, where people who get the Maltese citizenship have the right to live and work anywhere in the bloc, and vote in the European Union elections.

Cyprus and Bulgaria canceled the paid national plans for pressure from Brussels, which argued that such plans constitute the risk of corruption, money laundering and tax evasion.

Malta fixed its plan in 2020, and the Maltese government says it has tightened the requirements for the applicants. People who buy the Malti passport must invest for at least 600,000 euros, either buy or rent a property, donate 10,000 euros for charities and live in the country for a period of three years.

Residence requirements can be reduced to one year for people who invest 750,000 euros.

Analysis by financial times open 16 people received the Maltese passports were politically exposed individuals, or were later subject to penalties or convicted of crimes.

The committee argued that the fact that “legal residency” is only required to receive a Malti passport means that the plan “is unable to create a real link between the Republic of Malta and the applicant to obtain citizenship,” according to a summary of the public lawyer in an initial opinion on the case.

The court ruled that “by establishing and operating an institutional investment plan”, Malta failed to fulfill its obligations “under the treaties of the European Union.