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According to the Times of Malta, citing its sources, the European Commission is considering opening legal proceedings against Malta and its investment citizenship program. In the nearest future, it may issue a so-called official notification letter warning that the passport scheme violates the EU rules.
According to representatives of the European Commission, by selling EU passports Malta departs from the general basic principle that citizenship is an expression of a special relationship of loyalty, solidarity and a genuine connection between the state and its people.
Sources have said that the European Commission's legal analysis showed that the sale of the EU citizenship undermines the mutual trust of the member states of the alliance in each other's decisions on granting citizenship.
Malta's investment program, which has brought in more than €800 million to the government since its launch in 2014, has been controversial for several years. In 2019, the European Commission strongly criticized the Maltese program and similar schemes. According to the Commission, 5,000 passport were obtained by non-EU citizens out of the 6,000 passports issued by countries that have such schemes. Malta "came under fire" due to the fact that 700 issued documents of citizenship of the Russians. In December 2019, the Maltese authorities announced that they would not extend the program without EU recommendations.
In September, the Malta investment citizenship program was relaunched with new, stricter requirements. In particular, the entry threshold was raised, and the minimum cost of purchased real estate was doubled. And any applicant must now have lived in Malta for at least a year before applying for a passport. After that, the European Commission said that it will check the new passport program.
Meanwhile, Cyprus, which at one time also came under a barrage of criticism from the EU, has already announced the suspension of its investment citizenship program.
