Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1381694
3 NEWS 10.6.2021 THE road licence regime in Malta is discriminatory against cars coming from other member states, the European Commis- sion said in a reasoned opinion communicated today. e European Commission was commenting on the annual circulation tax regime that was amended on January 2009. It urged Malta to end the discrim- ination. e annual road licence for cars registered in Malta after 1 Janu- ary 2009 is generally higher than that for cars registered before this date as a result of how the tax is calculated. However, the system does not take into account cars that were first registered in another EU member state before January 2009. is means that a car that was first registered in the EU be- fore 2009 and later imported to Malta, does not benefit from the old taxation regime like cars first registered in Malta. e Commission decided to send a reasoned opinion after Malta failed to amend its rules on car taxation, which it deems to be incompatible with the EU treaty that prohibits discrimina- tion against imported products. It gave Malta two months to remedy the situation. "e Maltese car taxation sys- tem has a discriminatory effect with respect to motor vehicles coming from other Member States. If Malta does not act within the next two months, the Commission may decide to refer the case to the Court of Justice," the Commission said. Commission urges Malta to end road tax discrimination against EU car imports FROM PAGE 1 "We know what the concerns of the Commission are," Abela told journalists. "ere will be no footstomping with the Commission but instead we will try to convince using persuasion." In its additional letter of formal notice published yesterday, the EC expanded on the concerns initially raised in a sep- arate formal notice issued in October 2020, specifically that both Malta and Cyprus are failing to fulfill their obli- gations under the principle of sincere cooperation and the definition of citi- zenship of the Union as laid down in the Treaties. Consequently, Malta has been given two months to take all measures neces- sary to address the Commission's con- cerns. If government's reply is unsatis- factory, the Commission could take a further step and issue a reasoned opin- ion on the matter. "While Cyprus and Malta remain re- sponsible to decide who may become Cypriot and Maltese, the Court of Jus- tice has made it clear on multiple oc- casions that rules on the acquisition of the nationality of a Member State must do so having 'due regard to EU law'," the Commission's statement reads. But Abela said that if the case is brought to the European Court of Jus- tice, government will build a legal case in defence of the project. "I understand that we are one of 27 member states and so Maltese citizen- ship gives certain rights, and we're ful- filing our obligation by making sure that every applicant passes through rigorous tests." Abela emphasised that the Maltese citizenship-by-investment programme employs meticulous due diligence. Parliamentary Secretary Alex Mus- cat confirmed that the rate of rejection among applicants stands above 40%. e Commission acknowledged that a new Maltese citizenship-by-investment scheme was launched towards the end of 2020, and that the previous scheme is no longer in force. However, the Com- mission still expressed concerns on the new scheme being operated in Malta. Didier Reynders, EU Commissioner for Justice, noted that "by offering citi- zenship in exchange for pre-determined payments and investments, Malta fails to fulfil its obligations in the Treaties. Becoming the national of a Member State means becoming an EU citizen too. is link must not be forgotten." "e new Maltese scheme, currently in place since late 2020, raises concerns in this respect. We expect the Maltese authorities to provide concrete explana- tions before we decide on the next step," Reynders continued. Infringement procedures against Mal- ta were launched last October. e Prime Minister initially claimed that this legal action was being taken due to attacks by the Nationalist Party MEPs over the sale of passports, and that one could thank the MEPs for failing to de- fend Malta at EU level. However, a joint investigation dubbed e Passport Papers found that sever- al IIP applicants under the previous scheme were spending only an aver- age number of 16 days in Malta prior to receiving their passport, while the absolute majority applicants opted for a lease agreement that was on, or just above, the legally required amount to qualify for citizenship. Similar practices remain under the new citizenship-by-investment scheme. An undercover investigation by e Guardian revealed how Maltese gov- ernment still accepts a three-week stay in the country as sufficient evidence of a genuine link to Malta. 'PN sowing malice' Abela went on to criticise the Nation- alist Party, accusing it of sowing mali- cious sentiment in the corridors of the European Union. "ose who are in opposition aren't opposing it because of any moral ob- ligation, but because they know what good this programme has done to the quality of lives of the Maltese." He further accused the Nationalist Party of lying to financial services prac- titioners, telling them that the party will support the citizenship-by-investment scheme while working against the pro- ject behind their backs. Meanwhile, the Nationalist Party is- sued a reaction to Wednesday's devel- opments on the citizenship-by-invest- ment scheme. "For years, the Nationalist Party has been appealing to government that when dealing with a delicate matter like citizenship, it must use caution, trans- parency, sobriety and rigorous process- es whereby a person is given citizenship, and it is not bought." e party said that Malta was today suffering the consequences of the irre- sponsible behaviour of Robert Abela's government. As an alternative to the current cit- izenship-by-investment scheme, the PN said that it will agree to a transpar- ent process based on meritocracy after the applicant has met the relevant cri- teria is would include having the names of all successful applicants published and open for public scrutiny, as well as ensuring that the applicant holds a gen- uine connection to Malta. 'Malta fails to fulfil its obligations in the Treaties'