Brussels has reacted positively to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s plan to hold further talks with the European Commission on the controversial citizenship scheme.
Senior EU officials told Times of Malta yesterday that although there were “no high level discussions planned yet” it was a positive sign that the government intended to continue with talks.
“At this stage, we are ready to continue to discuss with the government and to seek further clarifications on the citizenship scheme. We are not going to rush to take legal action against the island without first exploring all possible amicable solutions,” a senior official said.
We are not going to rush to take legal action against the island
Confirming that talks between the EU executive and Malta are still ongoing on a technical level, the officials did not exclude further “high-level political discussions”, possibly also involving European Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding and Dr Muscat.
“At this stage, we are open to a sincere dialogue to make sure we understand each other. The Commission has made it clear that in its current format the scheme is not consonant with European values and that certain elements of residency have to be included.”
During a debate at the European Parliament last week, Ms Reding made it clear the current scheme of selling European passports was not welcomed by the Commission and that the possibility of legal action was being studied.
According to the commissioner, Malta risked violating the EU Treaty with regard to “sincere cooperation” with fellow EU countries because the new Maltese citizens would be able to live and work in all states.
Meanwhile, despite the Prime Minister’s declaration that he will continue talks with the Commission, the government has officially issued formal applications for non-EU citizens wanting to acquire Maltese citizenship.
They were published through a legal notice in The Malta Government Gazette on Friday, a day after Dr Muscat said that some applications had already been received.
In view of this, the Opposition accused the Prime Minister of either not telling the truth or that the whole exercise of the publication of the application forms was just “another futile exercise”.
“Apparently, our Prime Minister either considers truth to be a very rare commodity or he thinks he can fool all the people all the time,” PN spokesman Jason Azzopardi said.
Asked for a clarification on the apparent discrepancy, a spokesman for the Office of the Prime Minister said:
“Local agents and the concessionaire received many expressions of interest from around the globe, most of which were made some time before the final regulations were issued.
“Initial inquiries will therefore realise into Individual Investor Programme applications.”
The application forms published by the government for the “naturalisation as a Citizen of Malta” ask applicants for a raft of details, including a declaration on whether their wealth “has been obtained from completely legitimate sources, and is not, directly or indirectly, derived from the proceeds of criminal activity of any kind”.
Applicants are also informed that “should the minister agree to grant a certificate of naturalisation as a citizen”, prior to such naturalisation, the applicant has to come to Malta and “take an oath of allegiance”.