The government said this evening that it had taken note of the comments made by the presidency of the European Union, the European Commission and the European Parliament during the citizenship debate.

It had been made very clear, the government said, that to date, citizenship was a matter of national competence. It was also clear that other countries had their own citizenship pragrammes, visa and residence schemes.

The Maltese citizenship scheme respected the parameters of the the EU treaty and would be the most transparent of existing programmes. 

The government said it was disappointed by the misinformation given by some speakers.

It said it was optimistic that the programme, which conformed to all rules, would, would yield a billion euro fund that would translate into wealth for Maltese families and businesses. 

DEBATE CONFIRMED GOVERNMENT'S MISTAKE

The Nationalist Party said the debate confirmed how mistaken the government was when it drew up the citizenship programme.

It confirmed how wrong and incompetent the government was to persist in its error by selling Maltese and European citizenship.

The PN said it was not surprised that even Commission vice president Vivianne Reding said that this was not a matter which could be taken lightly and citizenship was a fundamental element of the Union and one could not put a price tag on.

The PN regretted that the prime minister had undermined the good reputation which Malta had enjoyed, to the extent that even socialist MEPs had spoken against Malta.