A heated debate took place in Parliament over the ruling by the European Court of Justice, which found that Malta's golden passport scheme is in breach of EU law.

Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri delivered a ministerial statement over the decision.

The government did not entertain the PN's proposal to immediately suspend the golden passport scheme, instead stating that it shall be analysing the details laid out in the ruling within the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to see how Malta can best conform with EU law.

Before this quick discussion ensued, Opposition Whip Robert Cutajar complained to the Speaker of the House that the Opposition was only informed about this debate 10 minutes prior to the start of the plenary session, on Tuesday afternoon.

Interior Minister Byron Camilleri said that since its inception, this citizenship scheme has directly generated over €1.4 billion to the Maltese islands - funds which he said were distributed back to the people through the National Development & Social Fund (NDSF). Camilleri added that over €700 million was invested by people who acquired Maltese citizenship in rent, as well as through the purchasing of Maltese properties and bonds.

Fellow PL MP Alex Muscat said that if one had to combine all the funds invested into the country as a result of this citizenship scheme, then this total would well exceed the €2 billion mark.

Minister Camilleri stated that all these funds were invested back to the country and enabled the Maltese islands to be financially more prepared in the face of any sudden shocks. As such, these funds were central in supporting the Maltese people during the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

Minister Camilleri outlined how these funds were later used to supply endless means of investment, such as social housing, "millions" in local healthcare, environmental projects, bolstering palliative care, the restoration of historic buildings and façades (including churches), supporting athletes, and many more avenues.

"This programme gave us the opportunity to invest more and take up more projects," Minister Camilleri said, defending Malta's golden passport scheme.

The Minister also said that "it's a real pity that not the whole country stood firmly behind this programme," as he called for both sides of the Chamber to pull the same rope. In this light, Camilleri condemned the Opposition for prioritising partisanship over national interests.

The Opposition clamoured that "the end does not justify the means" and expressed disgust that the government, instead of upholding political maturity and stating the path forward following this ruling, used real-life stories to trick the people into victimising the government.

On behalf of the Opposition, PN MP Darren Carabott said that after being notified last minute, he was expecting to hear about the government's future direction for this cash-for-citizenship scheme following the CJEU's landmark ruling.

Carabott said that listening to the government's initial remarks were very hurtful to listen to.

"You are using real stories to try and gain political points, instead of coming here as a government to take political responsibility for selling what it means to be Maltese for the past 13 years," Carabott said, "When you use stories about vulnerable persons to say that we are supporting them financially, through the sale of our citizenship, you have seriously reached the bottom of the barrel."

Furthermore, the young MP declared that the Nationalist Party was expecting the government to say that citizenship should be valued, and not sold, "but that's not what we got." He criticised that instead, the people got Minister Camilleri, with the Prime Minister beside him, "displaying that they have zero direction on how to proceed."

Carabott condemned the Labour government for putting a price tag on what it means to be Maltese, Gozitan, and, by virtue, European.

During Parliament, Carabott said that the PN is not only requesting for this scheme to be suspended, but it is also waiting for the government to publish a timeline on how exactly this scheme will be amended, as well as to acknowledge the CJEU ruling - that the scheme is illegal - as fact.

Former PN leader Adrian Delia said that the government, in its remarks, is "pretending that there is nothing wrong with this illegal programme, because even though it was illegal, the money we got from it was used well. That's the justification we got from this."

He also asked if we are ready to sell everything in return for money, including our country, beyond our citizenship. Delia called for everyone to safeguard the Maltese reputation, and not otherwise.

PN MP Mark Anthony Sammut expressed similar feelings, sharing his colleagues' disappointment that the government is seemingly reverberating one single argument from this ruling: that "it's fine to conduct something illegal as long as the money is spent wisely."

Sammut said that if one heeds this argument close to heart, then trafficking drugs or people is acceptable as long as the money gained from it goes to good causes, like aiding the sick, as an example.

In response to this comment later on, Clayton Bartolo said that the Opposition is being very disrespectful towards the professionals involved in this sector, in comparing them to drug traffickers. Bartolo also remarked that the government should not take economic lessons from the Opposition.

Sammut followed this up by stating that "the same government that gave away €400 million is fine with carrying on with an illegal scheme."

After critiquing that the government has failed to introduce new economic sectors into the Maltese islands, Sammut said that "the only thing the government has tried creating for this country to propel itself forward was illegal and tarnished our international reputation."

PN MP Paula Mifsud Bonnici requested for the government to be clear on the facts surrounding this situation; she called out Minister Camilleri for saying that the scheme enabled Malta to provide certain benefits, rather than outlining the outcome of the CJEU's decision.

She said that in her view, the ruling proved "what we already knew: that the scheme is morally wrong, politically wrong, and now we know it is illegal - even though the government refuses to acknowledge this."

During this debate, the government's side repeated that the PN's precise stance on this citizenship scheme remains unknown and blurred at best.

Edward Zammit Lewis observed that when Simon Busuttil was PN leader, he had promised to amend the citizenship scheme and provide it with more stringent rules, highlighting that today, the Opposition is demanding to scrap the scheme altogether. He also said that the CJEU ruling has sent the legal world back 75 years, in terms of our understanding of nationality.

Minister Camilleri cited a news article from July 2020, in which he claimed that Delia showed favour for the programme, in spite of his insistence against it during this plenary session.

After requesting for this article to be tabled, and demanding a point of order in plenary procedure, Delia told the Chamber that Minister Camilleri blatantly misquoted him. The former PN leader said that the very same article had written that Delia has been critical over the sale of Maltese citizenship from the very beginning, and rather welcomed new regulations that had been installed at the time in its regard.

The debate ended with Minister Camilleri saying that the funds that the Maltese State has received from this citizenship-for-sale programme will continue to be distributed towards NDSF investments, and appealed for all parliamentarians to pull the same rope to help Maltese and Gozitans.