The Individual Investor Programme, with which the government will start selling Maltese citizenships for €650,000, was initially planned as an investment programme but it was changed by the government. This was stated by Henley & Partners manager Daniela Bugeja during last Friday’s edition of Xarabank.
Ms Bugeja said that Henley had been advising the Maltese government on the scheme, which was initially an investment scheme. “Hence the name Individual Investor Programme.”
Ms Bugeja said that “the name stuck but the terms of contribution/investment were changed”.
When pressed by PN Deputy Leader Mario de Marco to say why the terms were changed, Ms Bugeja said that Henley had never changed its advice. It had always maintained its position that investment “should come first”. However, the government decided to turn it into a fee so that it would receive the contributions more quickly. At one point, Parliamentary Secretary for Justice Owen Bonnici was heard saying that this was a government decision.
German MEPs fuming over Malta’s IIP scheme
Meanwhile, the announcement that the IIP secrecy clause will be dropped has not done much to calm down the foreign media frenzy or the lambasting by European politicians. German MEP Elmar Brok told the Frankfurter that Malta’s ‘citizenship for sale scheme’ is “pathetic and vile”. He called on the EU and the German Federal government to “resist” the scheme.
EPP Vice President and CSU politician Manfred Weber insisted that “passports for the Schengen area should not be sold off to the bazaar”. And Deputy Chairman of the Liberal FDP Alexander Lambsdorff accused Malta of “transforming citizenship into a national commodity”.
The three politicians called on the EU Commission to consider whether Malta’s scheme is contrary to the spirit of the European treaties. Mr Weber insisted that “this is not a national affair” and Malta “should not be allowed to legally sell access to the EU”.
Mr Brok said that that the EPP “wants to discuss the Maltese decision at the next meeting of the Committee of Internal Affairs”.
The CSU is also urging Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich to try and persuade the Maltese Home Affairs Minister not to implement the law during the next Home Affairs Council. The subject is also expected to be brought up at the next EU Foreign Affairs Council.
On Friday, the head of the Dutch EPP delegation, MEP Wim Van de Camp, also criticized the IIP, saying that it is contrary to EU principles and Schengen rules. “If Malta needs money, this is not the way to go about it. An EU investigation is warranted,” said Mr Van de Camp.