Negotiations between the government and Opposition on the citizenship scheme’s future resumed at the highest level yesterday, with the Prime Minister and Opposition leader holding their first face-to-face meeting on the issue.
The meeting took place after a two-week lull, with party representatives having met a number of times to try to hammer out a consensus over the rules underpinning the programme.
Sources close to Castille said Joseph Muscat and Simon Busuttil met for 90 minutes in an attempt to unblock the stalemate.
Both were tight-lipped yesterday, replying to questions with a categorical “no comment”.
However, sources said that while there was still no agreement, some progress had been registered.
A follow-up meeting is expected to take place in the coming days, although no date has yet been fixed.
Meanwhile, the European Parliament has set January 15 for a full-blown debate in Strasbourg over Malta’s “selling of EU passports”.
The citizenship scheme seems to be a clear abuse of EU citizenship and Schengen rules
The date was agreed by the Conference of Presidents, which met in Brussels yesterday. MEPs from all political groups will discuss the scheme, with the participation of the European Council and the European Commission.
Brussels sources said that the proposal to hold the debate was made to the Conference of Presidents – which gathers all political forces in the EP – by the European People’s Party, the European Conservatives and Reformists and the Liberals. It was supported by the Socialist and Green groups.
In a statement, EPP Group chairman Joseph Daul said the Parliament’s largest group was “seriously concerned” about the scheme.
“The citizenship scheme, as adopted by the Maltese Parliament in recent weeks, seems to be a clear abuse of EU citizenship and Schengen rules,” he said.
“EU citizenship comes with rights and obligations and we will remain vigilant to make sure that these rights and obligations are respected.”
MEPs from both sides of the political divide yesterday accused each other of trying to harm Malta’s reputation abroad.
Labour’s Joe Cuschieri said that since the general election, the two Nationalist MEPs had taken every opportunity possible to harm Malta’s reputation by lobbying for debates among MEPs, which may not in the country’s interest.
Rebutting, the PN’s leader in the EP David Casa said it was the Labour government that was harming the island’s reputation abroad by coming out with the ill-conceived programme.
The scheme, under which Maltese citizenship will be granted to non-EU citizens for €650,000, has already been approved by Parliament despite fierce objections from the Opposition.
Following a bashing in the international press, the Government decided to postpone the scheme’s launch and seek consensus with the Opposition.