EU top court rules ‘golden passport’ schemes are illegal

European Court of Justice, Luxembourg (Image: AP)

BRUSSELS: “Golden passport” schemes for deep-pocketed international buyers violate European Union legislation, the bloc’s highest court dominated on Tuesday, after a authorized problem in opposition to Malta by Brussels.
“The acquisition of Union citizenship cannot result from a commercial transaction,” the EU’s Court of Justice mentioned, ruling that Malta had infringed EU legislation.
Brussels had taken Malta to the top court in 2022 over the programme, which permits non-Europeans to successfully purchase Maltese — and due to this fact EU — citizenship by outlined funds or investments.
Tuesday’s determination is binding and Malta should comply or threat hefty fines. “A member state cannot grant its nationality — and indeed European citizenship — in exchange for predetermined payments or investments, as this essentially amounts to rendering the acquisition of nationality a mere commercial transaction,” the court mentioned.
Although the court pressured that every member state has the correct alone to resolve on nationality, this was a freedom that should “be exercised in compliance with EU law”. The Maltese scheme “infringes the principle of sincere cooperation and jeopardises the mutual trust between member states concerning the grant of their nationality”, the court mentioned.
Rich Russians and Chinese had used the scheme to acquire EU citizenship from Malta. There had been related schemes in Cyprus and Bulgaria however these nations later dropped them.
Malta excluded Russian and Belarusian purposes for “golden passports” following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, when Europe cracked down on Kremlin-linked people.