Updates with vote
An overwhelming majority of MEPs (89%) today voted against the sale of Maltese citizenship. 560 voted in favour of adopting the resolution against the sale of citizenship, and only 22 MEPs voted against the resolution.
44 MEPs abstained from the non-binding voted in the European Parliament.
'Citizenship should not be for sale' - EP
EU citizenship must not have a "price tag" attached to it, says the European Parliament in a resolution voted on Thursday.
MEPs are concerned about schemes established by various EU member states and in particular Malta, which result in the sale of national, and hence EU, citizenship, a European Parliament statement said.
Parliament calls on the Commission to state clearly whether these schemes respect the letter and spirit of the EU treaties and EU rules on non-discrimination.
Some member states have introduced schemes which "directly or indirectly" result in the “sale” of EU citizenship to third-country nationals, even though every member state is expected to act responsibly in preserving the Union’s common values and achievements. These are invaluable, and "cannot have a price tag attached to them", says the resolution, which was passed by 560 votes to 22, with 44 abstentions.
Outright sale of EU citizenship undermines the mutual trust upon which the Union is built, it points out.
Parliament also stresses that the rights conferred by EU citizenship, such as the right to move and reside freely within the EU, should not be treated as a "tradable commodity". EU citizenship implies having a stake in the EU and depends on a person’s ties with the EU and its member states or on personal ties with EU citizens, says the text.
Furthermore, citizenship-for-investment schemes "only allow the richest third-country nationals to obtain EU citizenship, without any other criteria being considered", which implies discrimination, the EP noted in a statement.
Earlier
MEPs will today vote on a motion for a resolution on the selling of EU citizenship, following the lambasting Malta faced yesterday in the European Parliament.
The joint motion, signed by the EPP, the socialists, the greens and the liberals, “calls on the Commission to assess the various citizenship schemes in the light of European values and the letter and spirit of EU legislation and practice, and to issue recommendations in order to prevent such schemes from undermining the values that the EU has been built upon, as well as guidelines for access to EU citizenship via national schemes.”
It also calls on Malta “to bring its current citizenship scheme into line with the EU’s values, and on member states that have adopted national schemes which allow the direct or indirect sale of EU citizenship to third-country nationals to bring them into line with the EU’s values.”
EU Commissioner Viviane Reding yesterday told the European Parliament that the Commission is aware of investor schemes in some member states, but the one which has been subject to the most scrutiny is Malta’s.
Citizenship granted in one country has to be recognised in member states. This gives a person granted citizenship in one member state rights in 27 other member states and not just in the one in which it has been granted.
“Member States should only award citizenship when there is a genuine link. Do we like the idea of selling the rights of EU Treaties? Certainly not! Citizenship should not be up for sale,” Ms Reding said. Citizenship cannot be taken lightly, and one cannot put a price on it Ms Reding concluded, to splutters of applause.
The PN yesterday said that what happened in the EP showed how wrong the government is on the scheme, but the government insisted that it will carry on with the scheme which, it insisted, conforms to EU rules.
In a statement, the Labour Party made an 11th hour appeal for Nationalist MEPs to vote for any reference to Malta to be removed from the motion. If it is true that this is not a crusade against Malta, then PN MEPs should have no problems with this.