A resolution expressing concern over Malta’s plan to introduce the cash-for-citizenship scheme was yesterday tabled at the European Parliament in Strasbourg after receiving backing from the major political groups.
“This way of getting citizenship in Malta and any other national scheme that may involve the direct or indirect outright sale of EU citizenship undermines the very concept of European citizenship,” says the 14-point resolution, which is supported by the European People’s Party, the Socialist Groups, the Liberals and the Greens.
It calls on Malta “to bring its current citizenship scheme in line with the EU’s values”.
The resolution will be debated today during a plenary session in the presence of European Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Viviane Reding, and put to the vote tomorrow.
The Labour MEPs lobbied incessantly for Malta’s name not to be included
Sources said the four Maltese Labour MEPs in the Socialist group, as well as senior government officials, had lobbied incessantly for Malta’s name not to be included in the text.
While they managed to water down some of the wording from the original draft tabled by the EPP, the fact that Malta’s name will still be there also goes against the wishes of Hannes Swoboda, head of the Socialist group
Sources close to the government said the Socialists were now expected to propose amendments in plenary to delete the two clauses where Malta is mentioned.
Though the resolution is non-binding, it will have negative repercussions for Malta especially in the foreign media.
Earlier, Mr Swoboda called for the establishment of common rules to govern cash-for-passport schemes, saying the issue had to be tackled on a European level as it involved the sale of European citizenship and rights.
‘These schemes are a European issue’
Other political groups, such as the Liberals and Greens, were more scathing in their criticism, describing the scheme as “ridiculous” and “crazy”.
Addressing the media in Strasbourg ahead of today’s debate, Mr Swoboda said the issue was quite delicate: it was about “different shades of grey rather than black and white”.
He said citizenship could not be treated as an issue on which member states had the sole jurisdiction “as with it you get European rights such as visa facilitation”.
The Austrian MEP called for a set of common EU rules or a framework to regulate such schemes in future.
While openly expressing his reservations about the Maltese government’s scheme, he hit out against the European People’s Party for singling out Malta, saying that no such fuss was made when other countries launched similar programmes.
However, he echoed calls made by other political groups that in principle citizenship should be always linked to residency, saying he was against putting EU citizenship up for sale.
He also described as “contradictory” the government’s stance with respect to its position on irregular migration.
“I dislike that on the one hand you give citizenship to the rich people but on the other hand there is the big issue of refugees who need definitely strong support.”
I deplore the way it has been done
He floated the idea of channelling some of the funds from the citizenship scheme to asylum seekers, to create a “close connection between the rich and the poor”.
“But this is missing and therefore I deplore the way how it has been done.”
French MEP and co-chairman of the European Greens and the European Free Alliance, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, said: “The problem is that this is a national decision and we cannot do very much on it, but we can say it is ridiculous.”
He said that this was in conflict with European treaties but did not elaborate.
Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, the chairman of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, did not mince his words: “I think this is completely crazy and I don’t even understand how it can come to somebody’s mind.”
Meanwhile, the two major political parties continued to trade charges over the scheme, with the PN accusing the government of trying to offset the debts accumulated during its first months in office and avoid further sanctions from the European Commission.
The Labour Party accused Opposition leader Simon Busuttil of attacking his own country to score political points.
Nationalist MEP Robert Metsola said it was astounding that the resolution was co-signed by the Socialist group after the Labour Party had issued a statement claiming their European colleagues had understood Malta’s position.
In a joint statement, MEPs David Casa and Ms Metsola reiterated that despite the political attacks against them, they would continue in their quest to have the scheme amended.
Main points of resolution
The resolution tabled yesterday by the major political groups of the European Parliament contains 14 points, two of which refer directly to Malta. The main points are:
EU citizenship should never become a tradable commodity.
Matters of residency and citizenship are the competence of the member states but they should still be careful when exercising their powers on such issues.
The direct or indirect outright sale of EU citizenship undermines the concept of European citizenship.
Malta is urged to bring the scheme in line with EU values.
A call is made on the European Commission to state whether such schemes respect the letter and the spirit of the Treaties and the Schengen Borders Code as well as EU non-discrimination rules.
Member states are urged to live up to the responsibilities they hold in safeguarding the values and objectives of the Union
Concern is expressed about the implications of some of the investor and citizenship schemes that have recently been established by different member states.