EU Court of Justice rejects Malta’s investor citizenship scheme

Brussels – Stop to ‘easy’ citizenship: The Court of Justice of the EU rejects Malta and its policy of recognizing status and passports. For the Luxembourg judges, “the acquisition of Union citizenship cannot result from a commercial transaction.” Therefore, “the Maltese citizenship-by-investment program is contrary to Union law.”

In its judgment, the Court acknowledged the reasons put forward by the European Commission, which had brought the government of Valletta before the Court specifically due to its passport issuance policy. Today (April 29), it ruled that the regime introduced in 2020 linking citizenship to investments “amounts to the commercialization of the grant of the nationality of a Member State and, by extension, of Union citizenship,” infringing EU law.

Specifically, naturalization in return for payment violates the rules relating to citizenship of the Union under Article 20 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the Union and the principle of loyal cooperation enshrined in Article 4 of the Treaty on the European Union.

Although granting citizenship by a member state remains a national competence, ‘easy’ naturalization is detrimental to the general interest of the EU. According to the Luxembourg judges, the practice of granting citizenship in return for payment “does not make it possible to establish the necessary bond of solidarity and good faith between a Member State and its citizens, or to ensure mutual trust between the Member States and thus constitutes a breach of the principle of sincere cooperation.”