‘Citizenship issue settled’ says Commissioner • PM does not specify duration of residency

The European Commission has declared itself "reassured" with new amendments agreed with the Maltese government on its sale of passports.

Addressing a press conference together with European Commissioner Maros Sefcovic and deputy prime minister Louis Grech, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said that following talks in Brussels, the Commission had given its seal of approval to the Individual Investor Programme, which will sell Maltese passports - and consequently European citizenship - for €650,000.

IIP citizens must also commit themselves to buy a property of €350,000 or rent one for €16,000 a year for five years, and invest €150,000 in government bonds.

"The Commission has expressed their approval of the amendments which have been made," Muscat said.

Malta will maintain a 1,800-applicant capping on the IIP, despite the European Commission's go-ahead that it could remove the limit, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said.

Once again, Muscat failed to specify for how long applicants must reside in Malta before being granted citizenship, with Muscat limiting himself to say that there was no need for applicants to reside in Malta for 365 days.

"Residing in Malta for 12 months does not equate to having to physically be in Malta for 365 days," he said, stressing that the definition of residency "falls fairly and squarely" on the individual member states.

"Preventing anyone from going abroad would be against Schengen rules," Muscat added when pressed to define the 'effective residency' requirement agreed with the European Commission.

Muscat insisted that people questioning the residency requirement, were "missing the wood for the trees" and that the "focus should not be on how many days one needs to reside in Malta" to be granted a passport. "The crux of the matter is the good faith in the implementation of this requirement," he said.

Sefcovic, the European Commissioner for Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration expressed his satisfaction at the outcome of the talks concluded yesterday.

The Commissioner said that "the issue has been settled".

"Whilst Maltese law must be respected, we are very happy that a genuine link between potential applicants and Malta has been agreed upon," he said.

"It is certainly reassuring to know that there will be security background checks on such applicants," he said.

Sefcovic said that the recent European Parliament debate triggered by Malta's scheme had "opened" the Commission's eyes on other similar schemes, which he said will be scrutinised in the same way as Malta's programme was.

When asked as to what the relationship was between the Commission and Malta, in light of the IIP debate - Sefcovic described it as "excellent".

"The cooperation and understanding was very good, and the relationship remains an excellent one," Sefcovic said.

Muscat also put weight behind this statement, saying that it was the duty of the Commission to ask questions, but also the duty of government to safeguard national interest.

Sefcovic also praised Malta for its resilience during the economic recession and for its emphasis to create employment opportunities for its people.

He also stressed the need for a good voter-turnout in the upcoming EP elections, thus ensuring that the people will be brought closer to the European institutions.

Muscat agreed, saying that a low turnout could result in such institutions becoming "marginalized, misjudged and misinterpreted".