Gerstenberg Participates in Panel on EU Citizenship Law

5 June 2025

On Wednesday, 4 June, GCDC member Dr Oliver Gerstenberg participated in a panel event titled ‘EU Citizenship After Commission v Malta: Liberalism v Solidarity?’ The event, organised by the UCL European Institute, brought together leading experts to debate EU citizenship law following the groundbreaking judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU in European Commission v Malta.

In that judgment, the Court held that Malta’s investor citizenship scheme, which allowed foreign investors to apply for Maltese citizenship even if they did not have a genuine link to Malta, was incompatible with EU law. According to the Court, this scheme amounted to ‘commercialisation’ of citizenship, which goes against the concept of Union citizenship envisaged by the Treaties and undermines the principle of sincere cooperation between Member States.

Other speakers at the event were Dr Lior Erez (University of Oxford), Dr Sarah Ganty (UCLouvain/Yale), Professor Dimitry Kochenov (Central European University), and Dr Madeleine Sumption (University of Oxford).