Court decision · Malta / EU
After Commission v Malta
Published 9 Sep 2026 · Reviewed 7 Oct 2026 · 5 min read
On 29 April 2025 the Court of Justice held that Malta's 2020 direct-investment naturalisation scheme breached EU law. Malta repealed it. What remains is a discretionary merit route with no investment amount.
What the Court held
In Case C-181/23, the Grand Chamber found that the scheme breached Article 20 TFEU and Article 4(3) TEU, as 'the commercialisation of the grant of the nationality of a Member State'. Because Maltese citizenship is also EU citizenship, a member state cannot grant it in exchange for predetermined payments or investments.
What Malta changed
Act XXI of 2025, gazetted on 24 July 2025, rewrote article 10(9) of the Maltese Citizenship Act as naturalisation by merit. L.N. 159 of 2025, gazetted on 29 July 2025, deleted the direct-investment rules in Part IV of S.L. 188.06. Part IV applications not approved before 29 April 2025 ceased to have effect.
What replaced it
Citizenship by merit is a discretionary grant for an exceptional service or contribution to Malta or to humanity, or where naturalisation is of exceptional interest to Malta. The Community Malta Agency describes it as “neither a programme nor a scheme, pathway, continuation, or alternative” to the former investor framework. It needs at least eight months' residence before the formal application, and the decision cannot be appealed.
What it means for investors
No EU member state can now offer citizenship purely for a payment. Residence programs are a different matter: Malta's permanent residence program continues, as do golden visas in Portugal, Greece and Italy.