Residency requirement would avoid EU action against Malta – PN

The Nationalist Opposition has once again called for "a genuine link" between applicants of the Individual Investor Progamme (IIP) and Malta.

On Monday morning, the Opposition a judicial protest in which it warns IIP applicants it would withdraw rights acquired under the IIP, which sells Maltese passports for €650,000.

The Maltese government has insisted that this PN's declared commitment to withdraw Maltese citizenship granted under the IIP is illegal.

In a rebuttal, the Opposition accused Prime Minister Joseph Muscat in forging ahead with "the illegal scheme that goes against European law and international rights".

Moreover, the PN said, the UK's own Home Secreaty said citizenship was a right and not a privilege.

"The Prime Minister and his government are now attacking whoever disagrees with the scheme. But he has forgotten that the IIP law itself allows citizenship granted under the scheme to be repealed," the PN said.

Article 10 of the Legal Notice 450 of 2013 says: "the Minister shall in all cases be deemed to have reserved the right to deprive a person of his Maltese citizenship granted under the programme if an applicant who has been granted citizenship fails to comply with any requirement to lease, purchase and retain property in Malta or to make and retain investments in Malta".

In other words, the law states that citizenship can be withdrawn if the applicant fails to adhere to the legal requirements.

The PN has now argued that this Article in the law "proves the PN right", in the sense that citizenship bought can be revoked "because no link would exist between the person and the country".

The Opposition said the European Commission was investigating the IIP because it was in breach of the Treaty for the European Union.

"Such an investigation could lead to the scheme be declared illegal and citizenships granted under the scheme would be invalid," the PN said.

It reiterated the government should give heed to what the Opposition was saying, especially in calling for a residency period before citizenship is granted.

"Residency creates a genuine link between the person and the country. This is the only way which will stop Malta from ending up before the European Court of Justice," the PN said.

IIP concessionaires Henley & Partners react

In a reaction, IIP concessionaires Henley & Partners reiterated the PN "were not really well-advised" on the legality of the withdrawal of citizenships.

Chris Kalin, an immigration and citizenship specialist from the firm, said citizenships under the IIP could be withdrawn in cases were misinterpretations are made. Kalin drew comparisons with marriages of convenience, and any other fraudulent act upon application for citizenship, that can be the basis for a subsequent withdrawal.

However, this is a very different matter to the threat of the Opposition Party to deprive a large number of citizens, namely all those who would have obtained citizenship under the IIP according to the current Maltese Citizenship Act and corresponding Regulations issued by Legal Notice, "is plainly illegal", Kalin said.

"Normally, in a democracy, the opposition party accepts the validity of the laws passed by the governing coalition or party. Indeed, this is the foundational principle of democracy and the rule of law on which every modern state and also the European Union (Article 2 TEU) is based," he said.

"To pretend that only the opposition represents the country is legally and also politically flawed: where is the basic common sense?"

Moreover, Kalin said, there was clear precedent that guided the withdrawal of citizenship status.

"Should the Maltese opposition act on its threats, it will most likely not only breach the basic principles of national law, such as legal certainty, but also EU-level principles, which are bound to be taken into account when EU citizenship is withdrawn as indicated by the ECJ in the Rottmann case."

The Henley & Partners representative argued that the "general tone" of the Opposition went against the basic principles of democracy, the rule of law and legal certainty, on which the EU and the Member States are based, namely Art 2 TEU.

"The Opposition is undermining the trust of the Member States and the Union in Malta as per Art 4(3), which the opposition incorrectly invokes."