Author: SME Chamber

The Waste Management Plan for
the years 2014-2020 envisages the implementation of this important EU Directive
which has been transposed to Maltese Law in 2007. The meeting will  provide an insight to the policy document
issued in this respect and producers obligations to meet the said environmental
requirements.

According to the Waste
Management Plan an Eco Tax Review is currently in an advanced stage and this
matter will also be discussed at the said meeting. As you are aware the Eco Tax
has always been a stumbling block to the implementation of the WEEE Directive.

During the meeting Green
MT will provide its plan for the establishment of the implementation of the
logistical plan to operate such a Compliance Scheme.

DATE :       THURSDAY
6TH MARCH

TIME :       14.00
HRS

VENUE : 
GRTU HEAD OFFICE , VALLETTA

It is important that you
attend to this meeting. You are cordially invited to reserve a seat for the
said meeting by phoning Green mt on 2149 6965/6 or else Ms Joanna Mifsud on
99845324 or by email on .

We thank you for your
participation and look forward to seeing you.

As part of the Management
Partnership Agreement between the Malta-EU Steering and Action Committee (MEUSAC)
and the European Commission, MEUSAC is currently implementing a series of
information sessions on the new EU Funding Programming Period for 2014-2020.

EXPLORE is a series of
six information sessions which will include different Managing Authorities and
National Contact Points delivering a presentation of the different EU funds for
2014-2020.

The third EXPLORE session
will promote EU funding programmes related to Research and Innovation. NGOs,
local councils and businesses active in this sector are welcome to participate
in this  session.

The information session
will provide an overview of various EU programmes and also national funds that
can further support and develop these initiatives. In addition to the
presentations to be delivered during the plenary in the main hall, a brokerage
session will be held after the event whereby representatives from Managing
Authorities and National Contact Points will be present to answer any queries.

Should you be interested
in taking part, kindly register on
by not
later than Tuesday, March 18, 2014.

EXPLORE | Research and
Innovation

Date: Thursday, March 20, 2014

Time: 17:00 – 19:00

Venue: The Waterfront Hotel,
Gżira

Creditinfo
and VoLo Africa are pleased to announce their agreement to merge their credit
bureau operations and establish a joint venture (JV), Creditinfo VoLo
Africa, with
the objective of working together in West Africa, in the area of credit
bureaus, risk management and biometric information. 

Both organisations will actively
be involved in steering the future of the business in Africa, bringing
structure and strategic direction with the aim of increasing the stability of
the African financial system and stimulating investment and financial
inclusion, to create an environment in which the African banks can provide the
required facilities for all borrowers, ranging from small enterprises and micro
enterprises.

The private sector in Africa
plays a key role in increasing financial inclusion and in providing the
financial infrastructure necessary for sustained economic growth. The JV will
jointly develop an improved system that will be a fundamental part of the
financial infrastructure of Africa by providing high-quality credit information
to the financial sector.

Through
the exchange of information, credit reporting systems can be established to
enable financial systems to use accurate information to offer credit based on
objective criteria. The result is lower risk and costs for the creditor and
increased economic opportunities for SMEs and members of society and especially
for those at the bottom of the financial pyramid.  Working together,
Creditinfo and VoLo will design, integrate and implement strategic solutions to
improve credit risk management procedures in Africa.

Innovative small and
medium-sized companies in Europe will be able to apply from tomorrow for grants
to help get their brightest ideas from the lab to the market. In total, some €3
billion in funding will be available under the "SME Instrument" over
the next seven years as part of Horizon 2020, the EU's new research and
innovation programme.

Funding is competitive and project proposals have to be
in line with call topics published on the Participant Portal, the gateway to EU
research funding. In 2014, some €250 million of funding will be available under
the SME Instrument's permanently open call.

 More information can be found at:

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/funding/sme_participation.html

The European Commission has
rendered legally binding the commitments offered by Visa Europe to
significantly cut its multilateral interchange fees (MIFs) for credit card
payments to a level of 0.3% of the value of the transaction (a reduction of
about 40 to 60%) and to reform its rules in order to facilitate cross-border
competition. Vice President Almunia said:

Women in Europe still work 59
days ‘for free' – this is what the latest figures released by the European
Commission show. The gender pay gap has barely moved in recent years and still
stands at around 16%.

The European Commission's online
Single Market Scoreboard has been updated as regards two main governance tools:
transposition of Single Market-related directives and infringements in that
area for the reference period between May and November 2013.

After having
fallen steadily, the EU's average transposition deficit – the percentage of
Single Market directives that have not been transposed into national law in
time – has gone up slightly to 0.7%. Sixteen Member States have a higher
transposition deficit than they had six months ago. However, the most worrying
fact is that five Member States have exceeded the 1.0 % target set by the
European Council: Belgium, Italy, Cyprus, Romania and Slovenia. Malta has the
lowest transposition deficit at 0.2%.

With regard to the
application of Single Market law, the number of infringements has not changed
over the last six months. The number of open infringements has gone down by 38%
since the EU Pilot project started operating in November 2007. The average
number of infringement proceedings across the EU stands at 30 cases, Malta is
the 4th lowest with 12 infringement proceedings.

The steady economic recovery in
most Member States and in the EU as a whole will continue, according to the
European Commission's winter forecast of 25 February. After exiting the
recession in spring 2013 and posting three consecutive quarters of subdued recovery,
the economy is set for a moderate step-up in economic growth.

Following real GDP growth
of 1.5% in the EU and 1.2% in the euro area in 2014, economic activity is seen
accelerating in 2015 to 2.0% and 1.8% respectively. These figures each represent
an upward revision of 0.1 percentage points compared with the autumn 2013
forecast.

A modest rise in
employment is expected from this year onwards while consumer price inflation is
expected to remain subdued. Diminishing uncertainty should underpin stronger
demand, which is expected to become the key driver of growth as deleveraging
pressures, funding constraints as well as internal and external adjustment
needs gradually subside.

According to the
Forecast, Malta has the strongest employment growth among all EU Member States.
Malta has also the fourth lowest unemployment rate and retains strong growth
projections. The revision of deficit figures follows two consecutive forecasts
which predicted a deficit in excess of 3% for 2013 and 2014. This is now revised
positively to 3% in 2013, and 2.7% in 2014 and 2015 respectively.

The European Parliament rightly
adopted a resolution to make Single Market Governance a dedicated pillar of the
European Semester.

Today Europe is still a
long way off a smooth functioning internal market, particularly in services
such as retail and wholesale. Actions are necessary to make it easier for
retailers or wholesalers to sell cross-border, establish and conduct a business
in another Member State, and enable companies to fully benefit from a true
internal market. Making Single Market governance an integral part of the annual
European Semester cycle will put it high on the political agenda and guarantee
its ongoing improvement.

Member States and the
Commission can help to improve the governance of the Single Market through:

a fast and zero-tolerance attitude towards infriengements of EU legislation;

promoting and better resourcing SOLVIT centres;

accessible, comprehensive and up-to-date Points of Single Contact;

full and correct implementation of the Services Directive;

implementation of Single Market Acts I and II