The European Commission has just given its reasons why it will be starting an infringement procedure against Malta and Cyprus on the passport selling scheme. There was no mention of Roberta Metsola and David Casa who are, according to Robert Abela, responsible for this mess.

This is from a statement by the European Commission:

The Commission considers that the granting by these Member States of their nationality – and thereby EU citizenship – in exchange for a pre-determined payment or investment and without a genuine link with the Member States concerned, is not compatible with the principle of sincere cooperation enshrined in Article 4(3) of the Treaty on European Union. This also undermines the integrity of the status of EU citizenship provided for in Article 20 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

Due to the nature of EU citizenship, such schemes have implications for the Union as a whole. When a Member State awards nationality, the person concerned automatically becomes an EU citizen and enjoys all rights linked to this status, such as the right to move, reside and work freely within the EU, or the right to vote in municipal elections as well as elections to the European Parliament. As a consequence, the effects of investor citizenship schemes are neither limited to the Member States operating them, nor are they neutral with regard to other Member States and the EU as a whole.

The Commission considers that the granting of EU citizenship for pre-determined payments or investments without any genuine link with the Member States concerned, undermines the essence of EU citizenship.

In other words the Commission is clamping down because they think what Malta is doing is illegal. Robert Abela says he’s intent on “defending Malta”, that nationalistic, anti-Europe rhetoric that is so typical of the right-wing separatist extremists Malta’s misnomered Labour Party habitually aligns with. He sounds both like Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici and like Matthew Salvini or Marine Le Pen when he talks like that.

I wonder. Did Commissioner Helena Dalli “defend Malta” and vote against these infringement proceedings? Or did she agree and “betray Malta” like Roberta Metsola and David Casa have done?

I’m sorry Ms Dalli. It’s one of those either way you choose you cannot win questions. I like those.