Malta's IIP endorsed 'in writing' - Muscat

A former European justice commissioner agreed with Malta’s passport sales programme and endorsed it in writing, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has insisted. Dr Muscat said he would be “standing by” what Viviane Reding had “declared in writing” prior to the introduction of the Individual Investors Programme. “We stand by what the [European] Commission told us in writing and declared publicly when we reached an agreement with the Commission,” he said.  Dr Muscat was reacting to comments by the present European Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova who said last week the EU executive was looking at the scheme with concern, adding Brussels did not endorse any cash-for-passports programmes. She cited a Commission report published last week warning member states that “golden visas and passports” could give rise to corruption and money laundering.  Brussels commented in its report that Malta’s scheme had no actual mechanisms to ensure passport buyers in fact lived on the island or formed a genuine link in other ways. When the scheme was first launched in 2014, it had initially encountered strong resistance by the Commission, even mulling infringement procedures against the island. It had...