Author: SME Chamber

GRTU Deputy
Vice President Philip Fenech has attended a public consultation with Home
Affairs Minister which focused on the increasing level of thefts within the
Sliema area. The meeting was attended by Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia
and Acting Police Commissioner Ray Zammit.

Throughout
the consultation a number of residents spoke of the trauma that they have
suffered after thieves broke into their houses to steal gold and money. These
residents have also hinted on the pattern that involved professional thieves
who could break into houses that were also equipped with strong locks.

Most
residents called for a greater presence of uniformed police officers in the
locality, others called for residents to be on the lookout for any suspicious
behaviour and report this to the police.

Home
Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia said the Sliema police station would be
bolstered by six newly reinstated police officers. He said patrols by plain
clothes police officers had been stepped up over the past months to counter the
spate of theft.

During
this meeting Philip Fenech asked Mr Mallia whether there is a sign that the
pattern of burglaries which occurred in Sliema is affecting retail outlets in
Sliema. Mr Mallia expressed that there were no reports of burglaries on
business.

There
were 29 reported burglaries from occupied dwellings in Sliema between January
and June, contrasting with 33 cases last year.

On receiving notification from the VGT that they intended to
increase the port tariffs GRTU immediately expressed its unequivocal opposition
to the increases. VGT's plans were to increase the tariffs from 1^st September 2014
to reflect changes in inflation.

Malta is already heavily disadvantaged with no cheap import
lines available which impinge heavily on our competitivess and result in
increased prices. With further increase in port tariffs enterprises have no
choice but to increase product prices both for imports and exports.

Before announcing any change in tariffs VGT must go to the
regulator and we expect that an economic and social impact assessment is
carried out to analyse the impact the changes will have on our businesses
competitiveness and consumers.

Cargo hailers are frequently blamed for high port charges.
The truth however is that the competition between the burdnara is strong and
healthy and burdnara have not increased their charges for a long time.

Government has committed itself, the Prime Minister himself
in fact, to increase Malta's competitiveness, also by reducing port charges and
GRTU welcomes this commitment and also the backing by Transport Malta as the
regulator for objecting to it.  

An MCESD meeting to discuss the important and delicate subject
of Libya was held last week. The meeting was called with urgency by GRTU and
was addressed by Hon Minister Chris Cardona and Head of the Public Service
Mario Cutajar.

GRTU President Paul Abela expressed GRTU's concern
with Libya. He said that we have a number of members experiencing problems
because of their operations in Libya. It is important that both organizations
like the GRTU and these businesses themselves are kept in the know and are
aided wherever possible. GRTU Vice President and Libya representatives Mario
Debono said that the situation in Libya is bad and the impact on business is
heavy but Libya will once again become a place to invest in even though this
might take longer this time. He emphasized that Libya is not a closed chapter
and we have to think also for when things stabilize.

Mr Cutajar explained the overall plan in place and
that up till now regular meetings are being held to prepare for any
eventuality. Hon Cardona said that the Government, mostly through Malta
Enterprise is in close contact with these businesses. Dr Cardona gave his
commitment that Government will speed up any payments due to Maltese businesses
involved in Libya , including VAT refunds, to help them in any cashflow
problems. In addition businesses will also be allowed more leeway in payments
they are due to make to the Government.

Businesses experiencing problems should contact GRTU.

Immediately following the power outage and GRTU's request for
compensation for loss of business, GRTU President Paul Abela met with Ministers
Konrad Mizzi and Chris Cardona as well as Chief of Staff Keith Schembri.

GRTU's argument was given due consideration and its
validity was acknowledged but compensation for businesses will be difficult.
GRTU however argued that this was no longer acceptable and it was agreed that
another meeting will be held next week to find a suitable solution for the
future. GRTU is currently looking into the limitations present in the Maltese
Law and also the possibilities provided in the English system and we aim to
push for legal changes as it seems that our energy supplier is protected from
seeking remedial action against it. Times have changed and entities must carry
their responsibilities.

In view of GRTU's protest Minister Mizzi confirmed
that better care and safeguard will be given to businesses in default with
Enemalta both when it comes to payments and interest. GRTU also requested a
specific professional customer care branch within Enemalta to deal with
businesses. A distinction should be made between businesses and other
customers.

On the 18^th of June, the
European Commission announced the possibility of withdrawal of the draft
maternity leave directive, in the context of the implementation of its
Regulatory Fitness and Performance programme (REFIT).

One of the main
objectives of this proposal is the extension of the maternity leave to 20
weeks, at a full paid salary, as well as the protection of women's rights upon
their return to work. The EU Parliament has adopted the draft directive in
2010, but it has never received the approval of the Council. For that reason,
in light of its smart regulation agenda, the European Commission has decided to
include the withdrawal of the maternity leave in the new initiatives for
simplification of EU. However, this proposal of the EU Commission has still to
be confirmed.

The European
Commission adopted a Communication in which it encourages Member States to
enhance the protection of small food producers against unfair trading practices
(UTPs) of stronger trading partners.

The European
Commission presented the first results of its €3 billion SME Instrument that
was established under Horizon 2020. The aim of the instrument is to support
SMEs by giving grants to develop their innovation strategy, spread across three
phases.

In June 2014
compared with May 2014, the seasonally adjusted volume of retail trade
increased by 0.4% in the euro area (EA18) and by 0.3% in the EU282, according
to estimates from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In May
retail trade increased by 0.3% in the euro area and remained stable in the
EU28.

In June
2014 compared with June 20134 the retail sales index increased by 2.4% in the
euro area and by 2.5% in the EU28.

Monthly comparison by retail sector and by Member State

The 0.4%
increase in the volume of retail trade in the euro area in June 2014, compared
with May 2014, is due to rises of 0.5% for "Food, drinks and tobacco" and of
0.3% for the non-food sector, while automotive fuel fell by 0.1%. In the EU28,
the 0.3% increase in retail trade is due to rises of 0.5% for "Food, drinks and
tobacco", 0.3% for automotive fuel and 0.2% for the non-food sector.

The
highest increases in total retail trade were registered in Germany (+1.3%),
Austria (+1.1%), Poland (+1.0%) and Estonia (+0.9%), and the largest decreases
in Finland (-1.8%), Portugal (-1.4%), Malta (-1.1%) and Spain (-0.8%).

The Commission
is seeking views on possible improvements of the EU Merger Regulation contained
in the White Paper "towards more effective merger control". The
proposals in particular include:

A light and tailor-made review of those
acquisitions of non-controlling minority shareholdings which could harm
competition. Companies can
acquire minority stakes in for example competitors and thereby influence their
behaviour and reduce competition in the market. The EU's merger rules currently
do not allow the Commission to examine these effects, while the rules of some
Member States allow national authorities to do so, as well as rules prevailing
in other major jurisdictions like the US or Japan. The envisaged reform would
ensure that the Commission can examine those transactions which may raise
competition concerns and have a cross-border impact within the EU. This would
ensure that all sources of harm to competition are covered and establish a
one-stop shop for these transactions. It would also not create a significant
extra regulatory burden for businesses, since only transactions that appear to
be problematic from a competition point of view would face review. Benign
investments and restructuring efforts would not be covered.

Making case referrals between Member States
and the Commission more business-friendly and effective. Under the proposals, the companies who notify a
merger could more easily refer a case to the Commission through a simpler
procedure. In addition, the rules for Member State requests to have a case
reviewed by the Commission would become more streamlined, to avoid parallel
investigations and better implement the one-stop shop principle. The new
procedure would also allow Member States to better cooperate amongst themselves
when they are not referring a case to the Commission.

Making procedures simpler. This can be achieved for example by excluding
certain non-problematic transactions from the scope of the Commission's merger
review, such as the creation of joint ventures that will operate outside the
European Economic Area (EEA) and have no impact on European markets.
Notification requirements for other non-problematic cases – currently dealt
with in a 'simplified' procedure – could be further reduced, cutting costs and
administrative burden for businesses.

Fostering coherence and convergence. The
White Paper takes stock of the use of current EU merger control rules and
proposes to reflect on ways to foster convergence between Member States with a
view to enhance cooperation and to avoid divergent decisions in parallel merger
reviews conducted by the competition authorities of several Member States.

For further information and to submit
your contribution, visit:

http://ec.europa.eu/competition/consultations/2014_merger_control/index_en.html