The EU Supreme Court has opposed European law that people become citizens through financial investment, Malta’s so-called golden passport scheme is against European law.
The EU Commission took Malta to court in 2022. This grants foreigners a Maltese passport, thereby giving them the right to live and work in the EU country to pay at least 600,000 euros (509,619 pounds), buy or rent assets of a certain value, and donate 10,000 euros to charities.
The EU’s court of justice said the scheme “equivalent to making the acquisition of nationality a mere commercial transaction.”
Maltese’s government has yet to respond to this ruling, which former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat called “politics.”
He said he believes the scheme can continue “several changes.”
The state risks large fines if it does not comply with the judgment.
The EU judicial court said “the acquisition of union citizenship cannot arise from commercial transactions.”
Malta repeatedly argued that it was correct in interpreting the EU treaty, Reuters reported.
In 2022, the Russian and Belarusian citizens halted their plans in the wake of Russian invasions and European crackdowns on individuals linked to the Kremlin.
Tuesday’s ruling goes against a report from then-court supporter Anthony Collins in October last year.
He said the committee could not prove that EU law requires a “real connection” between people and countries to grant legitimate citizenship, adding that each member state will determine “be one of their citizens and, as a result, who is a citizen of the EU.”
Each EU member state will decide how they will grant nationality, but the court said the Maltese scheme “puts mutual trust at stake” between member states.
The EU has previously called on the country to end its practices, noting that investor citizenship schemes carry the risk of “inherent” security issues and money laundering, tax evasion and corruption.
