Malta’s golden passport scheme breaks EU’s law, the main rules of the court

The so -called Gold Malta passport scheme that allows people to become citizens through financial investment is contrary to European law, according to the EU main court.

The EU Commission led Malta to the Courts in 2022 about the scheme, which gives foreigners a battered passport and, therefore, the right to live and work in any EU country in exchange for paying at least € 600,000 (£ 509,619), buying or renting properties of a certain value, and donating € 10,000 to charity.

The EU Court of Justice said the scheme “is equivalent to the acquisition of nationality a mere commercial transaction.”

Malta’s government has not yet responded to the ruling, that former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat called “political.”

He said he believed that the scheme could continue with “some changes.”

The country runs the risk of strong fines if it does not meet the trial.

The EU Court of Justice said that “the acquisition of trade union citizens cannot result from a commercial transaction.”

Malta has repeatedly insisted that it was correct in his interpretation of EU treaties, Reuters News Agency reported.

In 2022, he suspended the scheme of Russian and Belarusian citizens following the invasion of Russia and the repression of Europe against people linked to Kremlin.

Tuesday’s ruling is against a report last October of the General Defender of the Court at that time, Anthony Collins.

He said that the commission had not shown that the EU law requires a “genuine link” between the person and the country to grant legal citizenship, adding that each Member State decides who is “to be one of its citizens and, as a consequence, who is a citizen of the EU.”

Although each EU Member State determines how they grant nationality, the Court said that the Malta scheme “endangers mutual trust” among the Member States.

The EU has previously asked countries to end the practiceNoting that the citizenship schemes of investors entailed “inherent” security problems, as well as risks of money laundering, tax evasion and corruption.