The government’s citizenship scheme is to be amended yet again with the introduction of a one-year residency requirement following an understanding reached with the European Commission.
In a joint statement, the two sides said an applicant for citizenship would have to provide proof “that he/she has resided in Malta for a period of at least 12 months”.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat gave a press conference late yesterday to announce the latest development in the long-running saga over the government’s Individual Investor Programme. This has seen the PN, the European Commission and the vast majority of MEPs strongly oppose what they all viewed as the selling of Maltese and EU citizenship.
Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil pounced on the new move last night, saying the government had backtracked on its long-held position against the introduction of a residency requirement and had had to give in to pressure from Brussels.
“Had he listened to us, Malta’s name wouldn’t have been tarnished in the way it was,” he said.
However, highlighting a discrepancy between Dr Muscat’s version of the agreement and that laid out in the joint statement, he said he would wait for clarifications on the details before stating his final position.
Had he listened to us, Malta’s name wouldn’t have been tarnished in the way it was
Dr Muscat told the press conference that applicants would be granted a Maltese identity card, and therefore residence status, upon acquiring or renting property in Malta.
They would not need to live in Malta for “365 days”, he said, but this did not mean that they would not come to Malta at all.
The joint statement speaks of a certificate of naturalisation being granted only on proof that the applicant has resided in Malta for at least a year.
Dr Muscat was asked for an explanation of what the government meant by residency and he said this was already set out in the law.
Pressed further on whether a one-week holiday to Malta could be enough, Dr Muscat said Malta entered into this agreement “genuinely” and would be ensuring that the residency requirement was fulfilled.
He hailed the agreement with the Commission which he said the government had reached after “just a few hours of talks”.
It was not only Malta’s major stakeholders but also the European Commission that had now given the seal of approval to the IIP.
This was “a reasonable agreement reached with those who wanted to reach agreement with us”, he said in a reference to the failed talks between the government and Opposition over the contentious scheme.
The Commission, he said, had also agreed that the government may raise the current capping of applicants from 1,800. However, the government “at this stage” did not have any plans to do that.
Referring to Dr Busuttil’s warning that he would revoke all citizenships once in power, Dr Muscat said this was illegal and would land Malta in hot water.
He now expected Dr Busuttil to withdraw both the judicial protest against the government and Henley & Partners and the motion tabled in Parliament to repeal the legal notice.
“Simon Busuttil wanted to scrap this programme. All that was scrapped were his arguments,” he said. Meanwhile, European Commissioner Viviene Reding in a tweet welcomed the agreement.