Golden passport schemes violate European Union law as bloc deems them illegal
The schemes of foreign investors with a deep pocket “Golden Passport” violate the Law on the European Union, the Supreme Court of the Alliance after a legal challenge against Malta against Malta on Tuesday.
“The acquisition of the Union’s citizenship cannot lead to a trade transaction,” said the EU Justice Court, ruling that Malta violated the EU law.
In 2022, Brussels made Malta in 2022.
Tuesday’s decision is mandatory, and Malta must meet or risk heavy fines.
“The Member State cannot give its nationality and truly European citizenship, predetermined payments or investment, as this means gaining a purely commercial transaction.
Although the Court stressed that each Member State has the right to determine the nationality, this was a freedom to be “implemented in accordance with EU law.”
The Maltese scheme “violates the principle of sincere cooperation and endangers mutual trust between member states on their nationality grant,” he said.
The rich Russians and Chinese used the scheme to receive EU citizenship from Malta.
There have been similar schemes in Cyprus and Bulgaria, but those countries later threw them.
Malta ruled out Russian and Belarusian applications “Golden Passports” after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, when Europe was broken by individuals related to the Kremlin.
This story was originally shown Fortune.com
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