Author: SME Chamber

In October
2014, EU countries that heavily rely on coal are expected to receive billions
in funding to cut greenhouse emissions. Specifically, EU leaders are expected
to stimulate Eastern European countries to sign up for the new 2030 climate
goal, which aims to cut emissions by 30%.

This new target comes after a review
of the Energy Efficiency Directive by the European Commission. Although some
countries (like Germany) are expected to meet the goals ahead of time, other
counties (like Bulgaria and Romania) face industrial challenges that require
extra funding.  

To learn more
about the EC's 2030 policy framework for climate and energy, visit 

http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/2030/index_en.htm

On the 21st of
August the private research group Markit published its Flash Eurozone Composite
Output Index. This showed that the Eurozone economy continues to recover
however at a very small pace that only predicts very limited growth for the
near future.

With increased
globalisation comes the need to translate language and services to be
recognisable across countries and continents. Two such examples, the IBAN and
BIC, deal with the banking sector and facilitate swifter electronic
transactions. An IBAN (International Bank Account Number) is a series of up to
34 alphanumeric characters that was established in order to standardise the
identification of bank accounts worldwide.

Thus the
IBAN allows bank accounts to be recognised from anywhere in the world in order
to allow international payments to and from Europe, including the 34 Single
Euro Payments Area (SEPA) countries. The existing bank account numbers are not
replaced as the IBAN simply adds more characters. Along with the IBAN, the BIC
(Bank Identifier Code) is another important code that is composed of either
8-11 alphanumeric characters. These codes allow customers to effect payments
electronically and therefore problems arise when service providers fail to
display their IBAN and BIC on the invoices they issue.

Article
4(4) of EC Regulation 924/2009 states that:

"Where appropriate, with regard to the nature of the payment
transaction concerned, for all invoicing of goods and services in the
Community, a supplier of goods and services that accepts payments covered by
this Regulation shall communicate its IBAN and the BIC of its payment service
provider to its customers."

This
Regulation has since been amended by Regulation 260/2012, which states that 1
February 2014 was the set deadline in the euro area for compliance with the
Regulation's core provisions. For countries external to the euro area the
deadline will be 31 October 2016. In most SEPA countries, a national website
dedicated to SEPA is available. The Malta Bankers' Association provides useful
information on SEPA at the following link: http://www.maltabankers.org/sepa?l=1.

Russian
sanctions on food products, a response to EU action following the ongoing
crisis in Ukraine, could have a significant impact on the stability of prices
in the retail sector. The restrictions, which apply to the farming sector, have
been places on the trade of food products such as fruits and vegetables, dairy
and meat products.

On the 26th of
August, EU negotiators have aborted talks concerning better market access for
EU reinsurers over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
The abandoning of talks recognizes that it is unlikely to remove rules forcing
the industry to post as much as 100% collateral against their American
liabilities.

On the 18th of
August, deputy EU Justice Commissioner Martine Reichers gave a speech
concerning the progress on the data protection reform directives. Just when
progress is accelerating, opponents are trying to slow it down by using the
recent ruling of the European Court of Justice regarding the right to be
forgotten.

However Reichers says she will not allow them to use this vital
ruling to stop the opening of a single digital market for EU companies and
better privacy protection for EU citizens. The ruling asks for a balance
between the legitimate interests of Internet users and the fundamental rights
of citizens. Negotiations concerning the data protection reform have been
ongoing for more than two and a half years. Heads of State and Government want
to adopt a strong EU General Date Protection framework by 2015.

Further information on data
protection can be found at: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/

The European
Court of Justice has yesterday upheld the Commission's 2007 decision on
MasterCard's multilateral interchange fees, wholly rejecting the card scheme's
appeal. Following this ruling, the adoption of proposed regulation for open,
transparent and lower card fees for all payment users must be a priority.

EuroCommerce, the original
complainant in the MasterCard case and a party throughout the proceedings,
wholly welcomed the opinion and trusts that it will provide great impetus to
the Council and Parliament to proceed quickly with the proposal for EU
Regulation which should bring great benefits for European commerce and all
consumers.

The ECJ affirmed all the
findings of the General Court, holding in particular that the interchange fees
could not be regarded as ‘objectively necessary' as ‘the system was still
capable of functioning without these fees.'

GRTU is very pleased with this
decision and augurs that MasterCard will re-assess its fees, not only
cross-border but at national level also. We call on the regulators to move
swiftly to adopt the proposed EU Regulation by the end of this year. Indeed, we
see the ruling as giving support to the European Parliament's extension of the
original Commission proposals. We urge the Council to follow the Parliament's
excellent lead.

In particular, GRTU calls on
the Council and Parliament to:

set interchange fee caps at 0.2% for
debit and 0.3% for credit as an absolute maximum, with the option for member
states to set lower or fixed caps;

include a fixed cap of maximum 7
cents for debit transactions;

include commercial cards in the fee
caps and;

implement both
domestic and cross-border fees within 6 months.

GRTU President Paul Abela, Executive Council and CEO
congratulate Karmenu Vella who is set to become the next Maltese Commissioner
on the important portfolio he has been allocated. EU Environment, Maritime and
Fisheries are indeed very important issues.

Present your ideas on how to raise awareness
about sustainable consumption and win sponsorship prizes!
Through
the European Network I SHOP FAIR (a network of critical consumers standing up
for social and ecological subsistence strategies) five NGOs from Malta, Poland,
Austria and Germany are giving cash prizes to any project that gives the public
an understanding of "Ethical Consumption".

Any idea
that engages the public to think about responsible consumption will be
admissible for the competition!

There
are 18 prizes (First-1000€, Second-500€, Third-250€) to be won that are
distributed over 3 categories being:

Best Public
Action: (e.g. flashmobs, postcard actions, panel discussions, creative
info-booths, etc…)

Best Alternative Consumption Project
(e.g. clothes swap parties, repair cafes, ‘cutting-back-on-consumption'
experiments, etc…)

Best Eco-Fair Structural Consumption
Change (e.g. change of supplier to fair trade products, replace products, fair
purchasing in communities, sport clubs, schools, etc…)

Each category
will then be divided into two further sub-categories: those in which the
applicant(s) are below the age of 20 and those in which the applicant(s) are
above the age of 20.

Winners will
also receive a travel package to attend the European Consumption Summit that
will take place in Germany in Bonn, Germany from 19th to 21st of June 2015!

This
competition is being launched in Poland, Malta, Austria and Germany, but we
also warmly welcome participants from other countries.

Applications
can be downloaded from the I SHOP FAIR website (http://www.ishopfair.net/competition).