Malta pledges to respect EU court ruling on golden passport scheme

VALLETTA, April 29 (Xinhua) -- The Maltese government said on Tuesday that it will respect a European Union (EU) court's decision concerning its golden passport scheme.

Earlier on Tuesday, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that Malta's golden passport scheme is in violation of EU law.

While accepting that EU member states have the right to lay down the conditions under which citizenship is granted, the court ruled that this must be done in accordance with EU law.

It also emphasized that the acquisition of EU citizenship cannot result from a commercial transaction.

Following the ruling, the Maltese government said it will immediately start reviewing the judgment to revise its citizenship rules in line with the court's guidelines.

Malta's golden passport scheme, launched in 2014, offered individuals the opportunity to purchase Maltese - and consequently EU - citizenship. Enditem