Malta has to end golden passport program - EU court ruling

The complaint to the EU court was filed by the European Commission. It demanded that Malta's golden passport program be curtailed.

The program allowed wealthy foreigners to buy citizenship for an investment of about 1 million euros in the island's economy. Obtaining a Maltese passport automatically opened up the possibility for them to live and work in any EU country.

Violation of EU law

The court ruled that this practice violates European Union law, so Malta must stop its further functioning.

In its ruling, the EU court noted that while member states have the right to decide how to grant or revoke citizenship, the Maltese scheme undermines the principle of mutual trust between the bloc's countries.

A member state cannot grant its citizenship, and thus EU citizenship, in exchange for certain payments or investments. After all, this essentially turns the acquisition of citizenship into ordinary commerce, the court said.

“Such a practice 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,” the court said.

Malta has repeatedly stated that its interpretation of EU legislation on citizenship is correct. After the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the country suspended the golden passport program for Russian and Belarusian citizens but continued to grant citizenship to representatives of other nationalities.

Golden passports for Russians

Despite these statements by Malta, the Financial Times recently learned that some Russians who are on the EU and US sanctions lists because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine have benefited from the golden passport scheme.

These new golden passport holders are part of a group of 16 people who have successfully acquired Maltese citizenship despite being subsequently sanctioned or convicted of crimes.