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€1.20 maltatoday YOUR FIRST READ AND FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT NORMAN VELLA INTERVIEW PGS 12-13 Download the MaltaToday App now SUNDAY • 19 JANUARY 2014 • ISSUE 741 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY Castille fumes What will Katey do next? PN voters want at Brussels's her to be President choice for Malta representative John Dalli's former cabinet chief earmarked for Commission head of delegation BRUSSELS: NO BLUFF ON CITIZENSHIP JOSEPH Muscat's government is not planning any U-turn on its ambitious plan to sell Maltese citizenships and reap in an estimated €1 billion in revenues. But the EU's commissioner for justice Viviane Reding has different plans, with the Commission's legal experts exploring whether Malta can be forced to change its Individual Investor Programme. Under the Treaty of the European Union, Malta may have had to consult either the European Commission or other member states before embarking on the IIP, according to the "principle of sincere cooperation." If the Commission finds a strong enough basis, it will start infringement proceedings against Malta, calling it to comply with EU law. If the government refuses, the EC will then proceed to send Malta a reasoned opinion, and ultimately, even take the government to the European Court of Justice. A political expert who spoke to MaltaToday has confirmed that although a resolution condemning Malta's IIP in the European Parliament last week is nonbinding, the ECJ would take note of the robust message that MEPs sent. CONTINUES PAGE 9 as commissioner in Brussels. Now undertaking the EU's 'concour' so that she secures a permanent posting in the European civil service, Darmanin is said to be replacing Martin Bugelli as the Commission's liaison in Malta. While an official call for applications for the said post is yet to be made, the Commission's representations in member states fall under the guidance of Viviane Reding, the commissioner responsible for justice and citizenship. "There is an unspoken rule that the Commission consults with the government of the day over such an appoint- ment," the Office of the Prime Minister told MaltaToday in an official comment. "We have evidence that this is what happened in the past, so that is what should happen today. The decision stays firmly within the Commission's remit, but we expect to be treated no differently from previous administrations and other countries." The government itself learned of the 'planned' appointment through its own sources in the Commission. CONTINUES PAGE 3 E EXCLUSIV mother of punk 'God Patti Smith ' heading to Malta PAGES 14-15 Newspaper post MaltaToday Survey • Majority want non-partisan head of state, respondents find it hard not to mention politician for next President of the Republic FULL RESULTS ON PAGES 6-7 WITH Malta still reeling from a chiding from European Commissioner Viviane Reding and news of legal steps against its citizenship sale (page 9) the government may be set for a new clash over the imminent appointment of Joanna Darmanin – the head of Commissioner Tonio Borg's cabinet – as the EC's head of representation in Malta. Darmanin has been the top aide to Malta's three commissioners since 2004, having started her career by the side of then Nationalist parliamentary secretary Joe Borg, right up to his appointment