The subject of Maltese golden passports calls this question in the form of an enigma that has just dealt with the Court of Justice of the European Union, enigma because the answer should seem obvious: the nationality of a member state is a member state alone.
Yes, but no. No, because the nationality of a member country is also a European citizenship, and therefore everyone’s business. The Court had already been concerned about deprivation of nationality by withdrawal for fraud, by non -use and by accidental renunciation. France has not implemented the forfeiture of nationality, the case of withdrawal as a sanction has not yet been treated, but there is little suspense on the result. The Court had estimated that given the severity of the violation of the rights of the concerned, the State was to operate severe proportionality control and could even have the obligation to refuse a renunciation of nationality. However, the right in principle of the member states to have their nationality is confirmed, in the name of the protection of a ” particular relationship of loyalty and solidarity Between states and their nationals.
And here is the opposite case which was little expected: prohibit a Member State from granting its nationality. The good Republic of Malta, which is one of the ten smallest countries in the world, had the excellent idea of giving its nationality to the people who:
- Give 600,000 euros to the government
- Buy real estate for a value of 700,000 euros
- Make a donation of 10,000 euros to an association or a foundation, it’s cute
- Have a legal residence on the 36 -month island, but it is negotiated if they pay more
Cyprus had set up a similar system, but had given up on the pressure of the commission. This is furiously like a purchase of nationality and demonstrates if one wanted to be a bad language a ” particular relationship of loyalty and solidarity ». The Court, which condemned this scheme last Tuesday in its training as a great chamber is forced to go further in the control of states on an eminently passionate subject. It indicates whether the States themselves define the conditions of flowering of the ” particular relationship of loyalty and solidarity “, They have a” wide margin of appreciation Which must nevertheless be exercised in compliance with European law. The limits noted are of two orders.
The first is theoretically the most fundamental: we must respect the values of the European Union, brought to the pediment of article 2 of the kill. This means that we are not supposed to give European nationality to dictators out of ban or genocideners, for example. Within the framework of the procedure launched by the European Commission, Malta had notably dropped the ballast in 2022 by closing the doors to the Russian and Belarusian “investors”.
The second is respect for legitimate confidence between member states. A European citizen can indeed go everywhere in Europe. In fact, advertising campaigns for these golden passports mainly put forward this European character of Maltese nationality. A fraudulently acquired citizenship is therefore a problem for other states that jeopardize security cooperation, but also social.
So, is nationality still fully national? The Court of Justice is by train, surreptitiously, Machiavellically, to substitute a European nationality for our ” Special relationships of loyalty and solidarity »With our old countries? More simply, this undoubtedly shows that even in the most symbolic fields, national and European responsibilities end up getting caught. Subsidiarity is less a Solomon sword that separates the national and European domains than a wet finger practice to find a balance between what is better treated at the transnational level and what constitutes the national.
