The European Court of Justice has established "what we have always known," that the acquisition of Union citizenship "cannot result from a commercial transaction," President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola said on social media.

She was reacting to the news that the European Court of Justice ruled that Malta's golden passport scheme is in violation of European Union law.

"For the best part of the last decade, we have warned that selling Maltese passports and EU citizenship to third country nationals without any genuine link violates EU law, and that the decision to hook up the nation's economy on this get-rich-quick scheme was legal and economic recklessness, that undermined our economic strategy, damaged our reputation and left huge holes in the security of our country and our Union."

Metsola said it was "short-termism at its worst that has left the weakest Prime Minister Malta has ever known, exposed."

"They are stuck, out of ideas, with no other plans to grow our economy, and back to their same tired playbook of blaming invisible enemies instead of owning up to their own tragic errors of judgement."

Malta deserves better, she said. "Malta deserves strong leadership, with a long-term economic vision that creates new jobs, new sustainable niches, new dreams for our young people, new prosperity and stability for our businesses. That invests in infrastructure and our justice system. That puts our country on the map for the right reasons. That grows our economy."

"This is not a moment for gloating. It is a moment for responsibility and mature discussions away from the hyper-partisanship that the Prime Minister finds comfort in. That's how we can move forward. It is a discussion we should have had 12 years ago. A new way of politics is possible," Metsola writes.