This September, as reported by Investment Migration Council, Malta was accused of violations of the principle of sincere cooperation for offering Maltese citizenship by investment.
The European Commission suggested that the newly-naturalized Maltese citizens that become citizens of the European Union as a result of investing in Malta without having a “genuine link”, are violating the law.
However, by considering the legal bases of this action, it is crystal clear that this allegation is against the EU laws as the Court of Justice has been clear about the Member States ’freedom to shape their own nationality laws’.
In order to explain this case, it should be noted that based on the treaties, EU citizenship will be granted to citizens of any Member States regardless of the mode of naturalization as long as it is based on the legal bases of the member.
The Member States of the EU do not have the right to question each-other’s nationalities to deprive EU citizens of their rights as discrimination between EU citizens is strictly prohibited.
Therefore, the “genuine links” that is the underline reason for EU Commission’s case, are genuine legal links with no requirement of additional residential or cultural links between the individual and the country thus the Commission’s reference to this term is a direct violation of EU laws.
In conclusion, the Commission’s action to frame one mode of EU citizenship is instructive and in direct opposition to the founding values of the Union, including non-discrimination on the basis of nationality, democracy, and respect for the constitutional identity of the Member States.
Also, the Commission’s insistence on an ancestral link, or in other words, blood link is considered both sexist (due to the grandmothers’ tiny roles in this regard) and racist (as only individuals with no ancestral are the targets).
It is expected that Maltese citizens via the investment program enjoy EU rights including areas of freedom, security and justice, non-discrimination on the basis of nationality, and free movement in the EU territory.
For further information about the Malta CBI program, you can visit our website https://mics.global/.
