A controversial law pushed by the Government to sell citizenship for €650,000 has passed through Parliament and has also been approved by the President. Kurt Sansone found a supporter and a critic of the scheme.

The case against

Nickie Vella de Fremeaux cannot fathom how a government without an electoral mandate to do so has decided to sell citizenship for a one-time payment.

The controversy has stirred a lot of anger in her and she admits that she feels hurt about the matter.

A lawyer, she speaks passionately about the scheme but insists the sentiments she expresses have nothing to do with her legal background or politics.

“Politics is irrelevant. I am speaking as a Maltese citizen, who is proud of being Maltese.”

Dr Vella de Fremeaux argues that although the Labour party won by a landslide majority, the scheme was not included in the electoral manifesto and people were never told about it.

She says the Government proposal’s is a betrayal of the people.

“Our forefathers have fought from the time of the Turks, if not before, to ensure that we retained our identity and here it is being sold for a bag of silver,” she says.

Citizenship should never be sold, she insists, but if the State feels it has to confer citizenship to foreigners, it should only do so if the individual would have contributed to the economic well-being of the country and lived here for a number of years.

Granting of citizenship should remain the country’s discretion, she argues, and only if individuals have proven to be good and able to become Maltese citizens.

Dr Vella de Fremeaux says the name of the scheme – Individual Investor Programme – is misleading because no investment whatsoever is required.

“All the scheme asks for is a one-time payment of €650,000 and discounted prices for spouses, children and other family members.

This is absurd,” she says.

Foreigners will not even have to set foot in Malta for a cup of tea, a pastizz or a Kinnie

But it is not the price tag that creates incredulity. The amount could have been €5 million and still Dr Vella de Fremeaux does not agree one should be able to buy citizenship.

“Under the approved scheme, foreigners will not even have to set foot in Malta for a cup of tea, a pastizz or a Kinnie. They simply wouldn’t care,” she says.

Dr Vella de Fremeaux is also concerned about the damage to the country’s reputation by this scheme, even before it has actually started reaping dividends.

Leafing through various articles that have appeared in the foreign press about the scheme, she says the rest of the world believes Malta’s economy is in such dire straits that it has to sell citizenship.

“This is not the case but why should we be humiliated in this way? Instead of encouraging foreigners to create jobs and generate wealth this scheme is a deterrent to those who want to invest in Malta.”

It is only Caribbean countries that are looked down upon by the rest of the world that have schemes similar to Malta’s, she says, adding nowhere in Europe were passports sold in this way.

Dr Vella de Fremeaux has no doubt the scheme will attract the wrong people, insisting she has little faith in the vetting process given that the foreigners will have no obligation whatsoever towards Malta.

“These people will owe us nothing while they are getting a free passport to Europe and giving us a bad name in the process,” she says.

On the Nationalist Party’s commitment to withdraw citizenship acquired under the scheme, Dr Vella de Fremeaux refrains from giving an opinion. “I am not a constitutional lawyer but the problem is that once they are registered as citizens they will be here for a number of years until the scheme is challenged legally.”

Until then, she says, the damage would have already been done.

The case for

Robert Musumeci believes the citizenship scheme will have a positive. He argues that if it is successful, a substantial amount of direct cash would be injected in the economy, ultimately benefitting all Maltese citizens.

The Government has set the target at €30 million for next year, half of which has been accounted for in the Budget and the rest to be invested in a development fund.

The Government’s figure is based on just 50 people paying for a Maltese passport; however, Henley and Partners, the international company granted the concession to market the scheme and process the applications, estimates the number of applicants could be as high as 300 per year. If this is the case, the Government will receive an annual income of more than €175 million.

But for Mr Musumeci it is not all about the money. An architect and former Nationalist mayor, he believes the cash-for-citizenship programme is “a novel way how to attract a new generation of networked talent” from outside the EU.

“Hopefully, this will translate into an unprecedented economic ripple effect,” he argues, provided that eligibility remains subject to a structured assessment on a case by case basis.

And he has no qualms that the regulator will have access to the whole process. Mr Musumeci says that contrary to popular perception, the presence of a regulator headed by a former aide to Lawrence Gonzi, coupled with the participation of the Prime Minister and the Opposition leader, prove that the eligibility framework has adequate safeguards. But this is not all, he says. “I assume that applicants would be, like any Maltese citizen, exposed to the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit which was set up under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act to combat money laundering and associated criminal acts.”

Hopefully, this will translate in an unprecedented economic ripple effect

Mr Musumeci believes objections on the basis of principle are unwarranted if objectors have no problem with other forms of citizenship schemes for foreigners.

He cannot understand how someone can claim citizenship has been reduced to “an act of trade” and concurrently discuss residential and citizenship planning with the same consultancy firms engaged by the Government.

He says those suggesting that citizenship should be tied to less favourable conditions are in favour of a scheme which is, however, less likely to succeed.

“It is unwarranted on their part to keep insisting that they are objecting on a point of principle,” he argues.

He says those opposed to the cash-for-citizenship scheme should also object to having foreign ships register under the Maltese flag to enable passage in international waters.

There is no connecting “natural factor” that may ever justify the granting of a Maltese passport to the hundreds of foreign vessels registered under a Maltese flag, he adds.

Mr Musumeci is surprised though by the Nationalist Party’s commitment to withdraw citizenship acquired under this scheme if elected to government.

He quotes from the landmark Rottman judgment delivered by the European Court of Justice on the withdrawal of citizenship.

The court held that national courts may not decide arbitrarily and a decision to withdraw a citizenship may only be justified in exceptional circumstances where the person concerned commits a grave offence and it is possible for that person to recover his original nationality.

“Claiming to withdraw citizenship in a blanket manner if elected in government goes against the principles of legitimate expectation and proportionality enshrined in EU law,” Mr Musumeci says.