The European Commission is laying the groundwork for a legal challenge to Malta’s passport sale scheme despite red lines on national sovereignty. The EU treaty says decisions on granting citizenship are the prerogative of member states.
But lawyers for justice commissioner Viviane Reding are looking to file potential infringement proceedings on the basis of article 4.3 of the EU treaty, which also says member states must act “pursuant to the principle of sincere co-operation.”
The logic is that if Malta sells nationality to, say, a Russian oligarch, they are, in fact, selling the right to live in all 28 EU countries, putting fellow member states at risk if Maltese due diligence fails to weed out criminals.
EU officials have dug up two files - the Micheletti case of 1990 and the Rottman case of 2008 - in which the EU court in Luxembourg ruled that citizenship decisions must be made with due regard to wider EU law. They note that the commission cited article 4.3 in recent infringement proceedings on tax reform in Hungary, in which Hungary backed down instead of going to court.
They also note that a ruling by the International Court of Justice in The Hague - the Nottebohm case of 1955 - says that citizenship should only be granted to people who can demonstrate a real bond with their new country, for instance, by living there for a few years before they get their papers.
But Malta is to sell the EU passports after a vetting process of just six months, with no obligation to ever live on the group of Mediterranean islands.
A Reding spokeswoman told EUobserver on Wednesday (22 January) the commission is currently in talks with Malta to settle the dispute in a friendly way.
“She’s not asking to extend the legal power of the commission on who grants citizenship to whom,” the spokeswoman said.
10 comments:
Half the UK jobs growth was driven by self-employment – redundant workers making an uncertain living as sole traders
Thus amply but sadly demonstrating why lefty liberals would prefer we all sucked off the great teat of a burgeoning socialist state.
How dare they .... educated adults standing up for themselves and taking the accompanying risk & rewards of self employment, instead of waiting for "public sector" employment / closed shop union jobs .. or living off welfare.
Pretty disappointing Mr Hutton has forgotten the expression ... "nation of shop keepers" & it's modern day relevance.
Half the UK jobs growth was driven by self-employment – redundant workers making an uncertain living as sole traders
Thus amply but sadly demonstrating why lefty liberals would prefer we all sucked off the great teat of a burgeoning socialist state.
How dare they .... educated adults standing up for themselves and taking the accompanying risk & rewards of self employment, instead of waiting for "public sector" employment / closed shop union jobs .. or living off welfare.
Pretty disappointing Mr Hutton has forgotten the expression ... "nation of shop keepers" & it's modern day relevance.
Half the UK jobs growth was driven by self-employment – redundant workers making an uncertain living as sole traders
Thus amply but sadly demonstrating why lefty liberals would prefer we all sucked off the great teat of a burgeoning socialist state.
How dare they .... educated adults standing up for themselves and taking the accompanying risk & rewards of self employment, instead of waiting for "public sector" employment / closed shop union jobs .. or living off welfare.
Pretty disappointing Mr Hutton has forgotten the expression ... "nation of shop keepers" & it's modern day relevance.
Half the UK jobs growth was driven by self-employment – redundant workers making an uncertain living as sole traders
Thus amply but sadly demonstrating why lefty liberals would prefer we all sucked off the great teat of a burgeoning socialist state.
How dare they .... educated adults standing up for themselves and taking the accompanying risk & rewards of self employment, instead of waiting for "public sector" employment / closed shop union jobs .. or living off welfare.
Pretty disappointing Mr Hutton has forgotten the expression ... "nation of shop keepers" & it's modern day relevance.
Half the UK jobs growth was driven by self-employment – redundant workers making an uncertain living as sole traders
Thus amply but sadly demonstrating why lefty liberals would prefer we all sucked off the great teat of a burgeoning socialist state.
How dare they .... educated adults standing up for themselves and taking the accompanying risk & rewards of self employment, instead of waiting for "public sector" employment / closed shop union jobs .. or living off welfare.
Pretty disappointing Mr Hutton has forgotten the expression ... "nation of shop keepers" & it's modern day relevance.
Japan's Nikkei 225 sank 2.5pc, the Hang Seng loss 1.98pc, China's CSI 300 slipped 1.3pc and South Korea's Kospi dropped 1.56pc. Benchmarks in Taiwan, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia and New Zealand also slipped. The Australian market was closed for a holdiay.
Japan's Nikkei 225 sank 2.5pc, the Hang Seng loss 1.98pc, China's CSI 300 slipped 1.3pc and South Korea's Kospi dropped 1.56pc. Benchmarks in Taiwan, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia and New Zealand also slipped. The Australian market was closed for a holdiay.
Japan's Nikkei 225 sank 2.5pc, the Hang Seng loss 1.98pc, China's CSI 300 slipped 1.3pc and South Korea's Kospi dropped 1.56pc. Benchmarks in Taiwan, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia and New Zealand also slipped. The Australian market was closed for a holdiay.
Markets are worried that the US Federal Reserve poised to continue tapering stimulus when it meets this week and by tighter credit conditions in China.
Quote With the US Federal Reserve looking increasingly likely it could announce a further $10bn tapering of its asset purchase program this week, it seems quite likely that today’s European market open could be a pretty volatile affair, with a sharply lower open expected," said Michael Hewson, chief strategist at CMC Markets, in a note to clients.
Financial spreadbetters expecting Britain's FTSE 100 to open down as much as 1.3pc; Germany's DAX as much as 0.8pc; and France's CAC 40 0.8pc.
Quote Everyone was reminded about last May's turmoil when investors unwound their positions in emerging markets on worries about Fed's tapering," said Norihiro Fujito, a senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities in Tokyo.
The emerging-world tumult that rattled global markets last week is prompting investors to take a fresh look at their portfolios. But so far few are responding to the shakeout by seeking shelter in U.S. stocks, a sign that markets around the globe likely face further turmoil.
A further selloff could put the U.S. stock market on track for its first so-called correction—typically defined as a pullback of at least 10%—since the euro crisis of 2011. The emerging-market unrest makes such a decline likelier, some say, given headwinds such as uneven economic growth and receding central-bank support.
"We came into the year thinking 2014 would be a much more challenging year for investors," said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Robert W. Baird & Co., with $105 billion under management.
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