Fair, accessible and courteous treatment of EU citizens by public offices in Malta

What we experience

• Applications for residence documents are delayed, lost, or left unanswered, and no one takes responsibility. Applicants are told an application has "gone missing" and are left to work out the next step alone.
• Front-desk staff turn people away, sometimes more than once, without explanation, without an alternative route, and without a written record.
• Requests for social support are refused with blanket statements such as "this is for Maltese nationals only," without an individual assessment of the person's residence history, contributions, and circumstances.
• Vulnerable people are spoken to in an unfriendly or intimidating way and are blamed for administrative failures that were not theirs.
• Letters to the highest offices, even when sent by registered post, go unacknowledged.

Digital exclusion

Most procedures now assume that everyone has a working email address, a computer, and the skills to use online portals.
Many residents, especially older people, the sick, and those without stable housing, do not. A missed email, a lost login, or a closed account should not cost anyone their residence status or access to support.
Applicants must be able to file, follow up, and get answers on paper, in person, or by phone, and receive written confirmation and written notification by post.
 
Why this matters legally and morally
EU citizens have a right of residence and a right to equal treatment. EU law also allows a worker who is temporarily unable to work through illness to keep their status, and it does not treat a request for social assistance as an automatic reason to end someone's residence. The Charter of Fundamental Rights guarantees a right to good administration, including a reasoned decision and a fair hearing. Malta has benefited from free movement and EU solidarity for two decades and should apply the same principles to the Europeans who live here.

We ask the authorities to:
1.   Give a written acknowledgement and a reference number for every application, complaint, and letter, and answer within a fixed, published deadline.
2.   Keep an offline route (paper, phone, in person) for every service and never make an online-only channel the sole option.
3.   Give a written, reasoned decision for every refusal of support or of a residence document, stating how to appeal.
4.   Assess social-support requests individually and stop using blanket nationality-based refusals.
5.   Train front-line staff in courteous, helpful, non-discriminatory service, and offer a named case handler to people in vulnerable situations.
Set up an independent complaints channel for EU citizens and publish annual figures on delays, lost applications, and refusals.