EU closes infringement case on Cyprus golden passports
The European Commission confirmed on Thursday it has closed the file on Cyprus’ citizenship-by-investment programme, ending the infringement proceedings it had initiated in October 2020.
European Commission spokesperson Markus Lammert told the Cyprus News Agency that they decided to close the case on Wednesday.
“The Commission’s position was clear from the outset, such programmes are in breach of EU law – EU citizenship is not for sale,” Lammert said.
He noted that in October 2020, Cyprus had suspended the granting of citizenship to foreign investors, but without abolishing the relevant law – which is why Brussels launched the infringement proceedings.
In December 2025, Cyprus abolished the law undergirding the citizenship programme, effective December 12.
“In this way”, added Lammert, “Cyprus addressed the concerns voiced by the Commission, and so the Commission decided to close the case on March 11, 2026.”
On October 20, 2020 the European Commission had launched infringement proceedings against Cyprus and Malta over their so-called ‘golden passport’ schemes, in which individuals could get a fast track to citizenship after investing between €1 million and €2.5 million in the countries’ economies.
A week before the Commission started the procedure, Cyprus announced it would end the Cyprus Investment Programme on November 1, 2020.
The attorney general here started a criminal investigation into the scheme. However, both Cyprus and Malta made it clear that they intended to continue these schemes in some form. With its infringement action, the Commission sought to deter the two countries from merely replacing their current schemes.
The affair came to light after an undercover expose aired by the Al Jazeera news network.
A subsequent inquiry found that over the years 53 per cent of 6,779 citizenships granted through the scheme were unlawful.