The European Union countries have the right to sell their citizenship through the Golden Passport program, provided they take steps to preserve its integrity through rigorous diligence.
Such conclusions have been made by EU Advocate General Michael Collins in response to the European Commission’s comments that Malta’s program violates the EU rules, Schengen.News reports.
According to the European Commission, the Citizenship by Investment Program of Malta, known as the Golden Passport Program, violates Article 30 and Article 4(3) of the EU constitution.
At present, several European countries offer residency and citizenship to internationals through the Golden Visa and Golden Passport programs, respectively, which contribute significantly to the countries’ economies.
However, the European Commission has continuously called on EU countries that offer such programs to terminate them after allegations of their involvement in irregular affairs such as money laundering and corruption.
Malta’s citizenship program, known as “Malta Citizenship by Naturalization for Exceptional Services by Direct Investment,” or MEIN, has two pathways:
• For a direct investment of €600,000, foreigners can acquire multi-Maltese citizenship after 36 months.
• For €750,000, you can get citizenship after 12 months.
Advocate General of European Court of Justice Backs EU Golden Passport Programs Continuation
Advocate General of the European Court of Justice Michael Collins delivered an opinion related to the Golden Passport program. He made two points that give hope to other countries planning to sell citizenship.
At first, he stressed that the constitutional definition of EU citizenship does not refer to genuine links. According to him, this requirement was made up by EU politicians after the fact and has no legal binding force.
Second, he showed that Declaration no.2, annexed to the Treaty on European Union, reserves questions of nationality to member states.
His conclusions were that EU countries have the right to sell their citizenship as long as they take steps to preserve their integrity through rigorous due diligence. He therefore recommended that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) drop the case against Malta, as reported by International Living.
Years ago, the Commission took legal action, arguing that the golden passport program breached Malta’s duty to cooperate sincerely.
Malta continues to maintain its Golden Passport Program in spite of other countries’ decisions to terminate such programs.
Following reports by Al Jazeera revealing illicit acts in which Cyprus’ Golden Passport Program was involved, the country decided to abolish this scheme.
Bulgaria also made a similar decision back in 2022.
Source: https://schengen.news/eu-advocate-general-recommends-dropping-case-against-maltas-golden-passport-program/
