Europe’s top court references the findings of ‘Passport Papers’ in a landmark ruling on Malta’s cash-for-citizenship scheme.
Europe’s highest court has ruled that Malta’s controversial “golden passport” scheme is illegal under EU law, citing findings from an IJ4EU-supported investigation in its landmark judgment.
The ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) found that Malta’s investor citizenship programme effectively commercialised EU citizenship and violated the principle of sincere cooperation between member states.
The judgment issued on April 29, 2025 marks a victory for journalists whose work exposed critical flaws in the scheme through Passport Papers, a cross-border investigation launched in 2020 with the help of a €31,150 grant from IJ4EU.
The investigation was a collaboration between the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation, The Guardian, Dossier Center and five Maltese media outlets: Lovin Malta, Malta Today, The Malta Independent, the Times of Malta and The Shift.
Passport Papers exposed the inner workings of Malta’s investor programme, which allowed people to pay up to €750,000 in exchange for citizenship, effectively granting them the right to live and work anywhere in the European Union.
The journalists found that most applicants for the scheme were Russian, with many spending just a few days in the country despite a 12-month residency requirement. Evidence of the required ties to Malta was often flimsy or fabricated.
“The Passport Papers investigation cited in the ECJ judgement showed that Malta’s passport sales scheme brought little benefit to the majority of Maltese people, bar a handful of gatekeepers,” Matthew Caruana Galizia, director of The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation, said.
“The investigation showed that the residency and ‘genuine links’ requirements of the passport sales scheme are a sham. We found that the average time passport buyers spend in Malta is 14 days. They usually rent apartments — to tick a box — that would otherwise go to families who genuinely belong in Malta.
“There is no evidence of any long-term investment by any single passport buyer. Thanks to IJ4EU, our collaborative investigation exposed the flaws in the scheme.”
‘Incompatible with EU law’
The European Commission, which launched legal proceedings against Malta in October 2020, referred to Passport Papers in its arguments to the court. The Commission’s position highlighted concerns that the scheme was incompatible with EU law, partly due to the lack of a genuine link between applicants and Malta.
The Commission argued that while it is for each member state to set nationality conditions, this power must be exercised with due respect for EU law and without undermining the essence and integrity of EU citizenship, which is based on a genuine link.
The judgment cites the Passport Papers investigation multiple times when discussing the arguments presented by the Commission and Malta.
While the court did not rely directly on the content of the Passport Papers as evidence for the flaws in the scheme being ruled upon, its findings echoed the journalists’ reporting about the lack of genuine physical residence by many investors
The court found that the required “legal residence” did not amount to actual residence and required only a “very limited presence” in Malta, primarily for collecting biometric data and taking the oath of allegiance.
It noted that the residence period could be reduced from three years to one for an additional €150,000 payment, further linking the residence condition to the scheme’s transactional nature.
Published in 2021, Passport Papers generated significant debate in media and civil society and triggered further reporting and discussion at the European level.
Following the investigation, the European Commission reiterated that EU values are not for sale and that granting citizenship for predetermined payments without a genuine link undermines the essence of EU citizenship and violates EU law.
The European Parliament also expressed concern and called on Maltese authorities to end investor citizenship schemes.
The ECJ ruling comes as golden passport and visa schemes across Europe face increased scrutiny, driven partly by concerns over corruption, security risks and money laundering.