In April, the European Court of Justice ruled that Malta's passport-for-investment policy violated EU law. According to the court, such a scheme "commercializes EU citizenship" without assuming any real links between the applicants and the state.
Malta's Interior Minister Byron Camelia said the government would eliminate all commercial elements from the citizenship process and expand the selection criteria for naturalization based on merit. The law is currently under consideration in Parliament.
From now on, the authorities will provide passports only to those foreigners who have already contributed to the development of the country or may contribute in the future.
In addition, the procedure will be made more transparent. The names of those who have received passports will be published.
Source: IMI
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