The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has announced the date for its ruling in the EU Commission’s infringement proceedings against Malta’s Citizenship by Investment framework. The date is : April 29, 2025.
Malta’s Citizenship by Investment programme officially called “Naturalisation for Exceptional Services by Direct Investment,” allows up to 1,500 individuals (with an annual cap of 400 main applicants) to gain Maltese citizenship by making significant economic contributions.
The European Commission argues that Malta is violating Article 20 and Article 4(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) by granting citizenship to individuals with no “genuine link” to the country. The Commission claims this undermines the integrity of EU citizenship.
Malta, on the other hand, asserts that citizenship decisions are a matter of national sovereignty. It argues that neither EU law nor international law mandates a “genuine link” requirement for citizenship, maintaining that each country has the right to define its own criteria for granting nationality.
On the 4 October 2024, Advocate General Collins’ delivered his opinion in the proceedings, recommending that the Court dismiss the Commission’s case. He has advised the Court that the European Commission has failed to prove that EU citizenship law requires the existence of any “genuine link” or “prior genuine link”, while also emphasising that such decisions on granting citizenship are a matter of national sovereignty and do not fall under EU law.
Meanwhile, Malta and other EU member states look forward to the Court’s ruling.
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