Malta will no longer be able to grant his nationality to people in exchange for real estate or other in the island. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) tried, Tuesday, April 29, the “Investment citizenship program 2020” of the Maltese government contrary to European Union law. The Maltese government has promised to modify its legislation ensuring “Always respect” court decisions.
Since the financial crisis, in the late 2000s, a dozen European Union member states, especially the most economically weakened, had developed specific devices to attract wealthy non -European investors to their country, with “golden visas” systems, which allowed a right of temporary residence against a temporary residence – like Austria, Portugal – or golden passports – Bulgaria, Cyprus or Malta – making it possible to obtain citizenship from a member country and freely access the entire European continent.
According to the European Parliament, “Between 2011 and 2019, 42,180 requests for citizenship or residence programs were approved, and more than 132,000 people, including family members from third countries”, benefited from it. As early as 2018, the European Commission had attempted to supervise these programs, due to many drifts observed.
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