On 29 April 2025, the Court of Justice of the European Union delivered its judgment in Commission v. Malta concerning Malta’s investor citizenship scheme, commonly referred to as the “golden passports” case. The Court ruled that Union citizenship constitutes one of the principal concrete expressions of solidarity underlying EU integration. As such, a Member State cannot unilaterally commodify its nationality without also commodifying EU citizenship, an outcome incompatible with the EU’s common values enshrined in Article 2 TEU.
While the Court’s appeal to the EU’s founding values is significant, the reasoning remains abstract and has provoked considerable academic debate. The full legal and political consequences of the ruling remain to be seen. One particularly pressing question is whether the Court’s emphasis on solidarity will affect the interpretation and application of free movement rights for economically active and non-active citizens alike.
This BruCeL seminar will focus—though not exclusively—on this open question. In an interactive online session, Prof. Dr. Pauline Melin (Maastricht University) and Prof. Dr. Hanneke Van Eijken (Utrecht University) will reflect on the judgment and explore its broader implications.
Programme:
- Moderator: Prof. Dr. Merijn Chamon
- Case law discussion: Prof. Dr. Pauline Melin & Prof. Dr. Hanneke Van Eijken
- Q&A session
- Concluding remarks: Prof. Dr. Eleni De Becker
Registration required by 11 September 2025 via link.
A Microsoft Teams link will be sent to all registered participants a few days before the seminar.
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