An institution with close ties to the EU was twice likened to the Taliban at a conference organised in London by Henley & Partners, a consultancy that helps HNWs acquire ‘golden passports’ and residency permits around the world.
The comparison was made by two conference speakers in the wake of a European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling in April, which found that Malta’s citizenship by investment programme was unlawful and must therefore be discontinued.
The scheme, which launched in 2015 having been set up by the Maltese government with help from Henley, allowed investors to acquire Maltese citizenship in exchange for a one-off payment of €600,000 and purchasing or renting a property. The ECJ said the scheme had made ‘the acquisition of nationality a mere commercial transaction’.
Since Malta is a member of the EU, its citizens enjoy all the benefits of EU citizenship, including rights to travel, live and work throughout member states. The scheme has been described as a ‘back door’ to EU citizenship.
Related
[See also: The best relocation and shipping specialists]
Several speakers at the Henley conference yesterday were critical of the ECJ decision in favour of the EU Commission.
‘The EU Commission versus Malta case was very interesting because it was based on the direct denial of the law as it stands,’ said Dimitry Kochenov, a Soviet-born Dutch professor of legal studies at the Central European University. ‘This means it was quite embarrassing for […] the lawyers of the commission, to defend this policy for the political standpoint that goes against what your institution is about.’
Kochenov added: ‘There are three constitutional jurisdictions on the European continent which never subscribe to the ECHR [European Convention on Human Rights]: Belarus, the Russian Federation, and the European Union.’
Content from our partners
Kochenov, who said he had previously taught at the College of Europe – an elite post-graduate institution established by the founding fathers of the EU – referred to it as ‘the Taliban’. (The College of Europe was the most represented alma mater among senior EU civil servants, according to a sample compiled by Politico in 2021.)
This characterisation was echoed by Prof. Carl Baudenbacher, a former judge on the court of the European Free Trade Association, who questioned the way ECJ judges are selected.
‘The first question is, “Who becomes a judge on the Court of Justice of the European Union?”’ said Baudenbacher. ‘Go to the bios on their website and you will find plenty of former bureaucrats and officers of state who are used to not always telling the truth.’
[See also: Davos in the Desert: AI, energy and Saudi’s changing role]
In reference to the College of Europe, he added: ‘They have gone through this school in Bruges, a Taliban-like institution, where they learn about the pure doctrine. If they behave nicely, they may end up as judges on the [European] Court of Justice.’
‘We will probably see more and more governments not being prepared to accept the authority of such international courts,’ Baudenbacher predicted.
Also speaking on the panel, entitled ‘Borders, Business, and Balance: Investment Migration in a Shifting Geopolitical Landscape’, was Rob Larity, chief investment officer at asset manager Bespoke Group. Larity advised attendees of the conference to look at prospective countries of residence the same way they would look at investment opportunities.
He said: ‘I would set this framework when identifying opportunities: Ask yourself who are the emerging jurisdictions, just like what are the emerging technologies and businesses, and the people behind them?’
Earlier in the day, Dominic Volek, group head of private clients at Henley & Partners unveiled the Global Investment Risk and Resilience Index. The index measures the level to which different countries are vulnerable to risk.
Volek said: ‘Nations that host citizenship programmes consistently outperformed on the resilience metrics. This isn’t coincidental, it’s structural.’
‘They reconceptualise government financing, replacing sovereign debt with what we call sovereign equity, rather than borrowing against future tax revenues, nations attract immediate capital investments, while acquiring economically productive citizens that generate sustained value creation.’
Malta generated €1.4 billion from its ‘Golden Passport’ scheme from its inception in 2015 to April 2025. Its national debt is expected to have risen slightly this year, but remain below 50 per cent of GDP.
Small and prosperous countries such as Switzerland, Iceland and Denmark were some of the highest performing in the index, thanks in part to investments in renewable technology that are judged to make them resilient to climate threats. Outside Europe, Singapore was noted for its low risk and high performance environment.
[See also: The most expensive schools in the European Union]
On the other end of the scale were nations like Pakistan and Iran, where political instability and vulnerability to climate change were considered to be significant risks.
North American nations Canada and the US were not as high in the index as some northern European countries, owing to high national debt and political volatility, respectively.
Volek pointed out Eastern Europe as a region of great promise, with nations like Estonia, Czechia and Slovenia being stable but inexpensive compared to the Scandinavian countries at the top of the scale.
Henley’s Global Citizenship & Investment Conference, which continues today, is taking place at the Dorchester and is hosted by Alex Gray, a former contestant on the popular BBC TV show, The Traitors.
However, Gray dismissed any suggestion that her appointment to host an event promoting a fluid approach to national allegiance could have been a subtle in-joke.
‘They asked me back because I had done an event for them before,’ she said.
[See also: What are the legal risks of international relocation?]
