Author: SME Chamber

Euro
area annual inflation is expected to be 0.9% in November 2013, up from 0.7% in
October, according to a flash estimate from Eurostat, the statistical office of
the European Union.

At
their meetings on 10 December, EU finance ministers reached a preliminary
agreement on the outlines of the mechanism for restructuring or unwinding
ailing banks.

Based on the Commission proposal of 10 July, the new mechanism,
the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM), would establish an integrated European
resolution system for all countries participating in the Banking Union, thus
enabling the smooth and speedy restructuring of failing banks when necessary.
The SRM would include a single resolution board and a single resolution fund so
that the EU can tackle future bank crises efficiently with minimal costs to
taxpayers and the economy. The Council Regulation establishing the Single
Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), the first leg of the Banking Union, which fully
entrusts the European Central Bank (ECB) with the direct supervision of banks
in the euro area, was adopted and published in October of this year. An
extraordinary ECOFIN meeting will take place during the week of 16 December to
finalise the Council's general approach on the SRM.

Christmas season is a time when more people than usual
are sending parcels, and the delivery market is being put to the test.

The
draft Commission Implementing Regulation on mandatory origin labelling for pig,
poultry and sheep and goat meat was approved by member state experts at their
meeting earlier this month.

Providing
additional voluntary information is also allowed under the new rules. Such
information includes flags or symbols, information on regions such as
"Bavaria", "Jabugo" or "Scotland", or an origin reference in the product name,
e.g. "Italian" or "French". The Commission is now expected to adopt the draft
regulation in the coming days. The Regulation would apply from 1 April 2015
onwards.

St
Margaret College Girls Secondary held its Celebration Day last week during
which Green MT deemed it fit to present an award to this Girls Secondary for
placing first in Green MT's "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" campaign. They placed
first from all participating schools in Malta.

The
competition, held over a period of eight weeks, in the last school semester of
2012/ 2013 recovered over 110 tons. St Margaret College Girls Secondary
recovered 42kg per capita per student in this period.

The
College asked Green MT to provide funds for a Greenhouse, a request which was
acceded to. Whilst presenting the Award to the School, Mr Paul Abela, Director
of Green MT and GRTU President thanked the students for their contribution to
society through the recovery of recyclable materials. He noted that the
logistics for all these collections was eventually paid for by the business
community.

Green
MT has an educational obligation through its permit and within its financial
boundaries will do its best to continue such campaigns.

Green
MT operates recovery of recyclable waste from 33 Local Councils covering 45% of
the Maltese population. The scheme has just over 1,300 financial contributors
as producer member. Green MT can be contacted on 79002263 or 99041462 during
office hours.

The
Micro Invest Scheme is once again open. The scheme will support This scheme
supports micro enterprises  and the self-employed (employing up to 30
persons as at 30th November 2012) that invest in their business, innovate,
expand, implement compliance directives and/or develop their operations.

These
enterprises will be supported through a tax credit equivalent to 40% of
eligible expenditure. An additional bonus of 20% (total 60% tax credit) applies
to undertakings operating from Gozo. The tax credit is capped at €25,000 per
undertaking.

It
covers costs incurred and paid for between 1^st January 2013 and
31^st December
2013 for:

Applications
for assistance will be received until the 28^th March 2014.    

Further
information and documents can be accessed on: http://www.maltaenterprise.com/en/support/microinvest

Please
do not hesitate to contact GRTU should you need further information.

Micro Guarantees Scheme

The
Micro Guarantees scheme shall provide eligible undertakings with the possibility
to access funds required through a guarantee of up to 80% on loans for the
acquisition of tangible investments, intangible assets and working capital
linked to such acquisitions. The Micro Guarantee may only be used to support a
new loan, used to finance investment costs approved by the Malta Enterprise,
which in total do not exceed €100,000.  

The
applicant must employ at least one employee (who may be the self-employed
person) and must not have employed more than 50 persons (full time equivalent)
at any instance during the previous 12 months.

Both
the project being proposed, and the loan itself, should be linked to one or
more of the following outcomes:

1. Establishment of new business.

2. New or improved products, services or processes.

3. Adoption of new technology.

4. Reduction in costs.

5. Increase in sales.

6. Retention and/or generation of new/additional
jobs.

7. Increased productivity.

8. Potential of growth in foreign markets.

The
guaranteed loan should have a distinct term with a predetermined fixed
repayment schedule and may in no case exceed ten years. Interest rates on all
facilities shall be in accordance with the policies of the bank issuing the
loan.

Further
info: http://www.maltaenterprise.com/en/support/micro-guarantee-scheme

Armenia,
Bolivia, Cabo Verde, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Georgia, Mongolia, Paraguay, Peru and
the latest addition Pakistan, have been granted what is called GSP Plus status
for trading with the EU. The benefits of the GSP Plus in these countries will
start to apply from January 1, 2014.

The
Annual General Meeting of the Lotto Receivers Union earlier this week discussed
in detail amendments to the current Statute.

The
last amendments were affected in the 80s (eighties) and as such internal
discussions had been going on for over a year, so that a new Statute would be
approved by this Annual General Meeting.

The
new Statute now caters for the realities of today whilst ascertaining the
vested rights of the past for many lotto receivers. The amendments amongst
other addressed the Pensions and Benefit fund which now have been addressed to
the needs of the current day.

In
addition changes were made to the rights of lotto receivers who pass away
before pensionable age and also for those who are receiving a Government
pension.

The
amendments and changes were coordinated through LRU President, Alfred Muscat
and Secretary Benny Agius who contributed wholeheartedly to make sure that the
Statute is presented for approval at this meeting.

The
Statute was approved by the Annual General Meeting and the President thanked
one and all for their contribution and advised that a full copy will be sent by
post to all LRU members.

The
Lotto Receivers Union is an affiliate Association of the GRTU Malta Chamber of
Small and Medium Enterprises.

On 11 December, the EESC plenary
session backed the Commission's proposals on card-based payments, but wants EU
citizens to be able to make basic electronic payments cheaply and easily over
the internet, both nationally and across borders.

Debit cards, credit cards and all manner of
mobile and electronic payment schemes are coming to dominate trade, but EU
regulations on payments have struggled to keep up with the rapid pace of
change. "The argument on how to start dismantling the high cost structure
imposed by the card payment services that dominate the plastic money market has
been going on for far too long. In addition, the same cost structure is rapidly
becoming more frequent in mobile payment services", said Vincent Farrugia
(Employers Group, Malta), rapporteur for the EESC opinion on Payment services.

Lower interchange
fees

The new payments package, which introduces a
cap on interchange fees and updates, will go some way towards improving
transparency and security, removing national divergences and aligning legal
rules in the payment system.

However, the Committee recommended that caps
for both credit and debit payments be lower than those proposed. Furthermore,
scrapping interchange fees altogether for debit cards would further open up
e-commerce in Europe and benefit consumers and the economy. "Capping
interchange charges should be made effective immediately for payments using
credit cards and debit cards in the domestic market, and not merely for
cross-border purchases", adds Vincent Farrugia.

The EESC also wants to include the same level
of caps for commercial or business cards.

Safer online shopping

More and more internet users in the EU are
shopping online. However, only 9.3% of traders actually sell across EU borders,
and 44% of Europeans say they do not buy abroad because they are uncertain of
their rights. Payment costs and delivery problems, as well as legal and
security concerns, are holding internet business back. The EESC believes that
the new proposals will mean shoppers get better, cheaper internet payment
services with less risk of online fraud and disputes.

These new proposals will also promote the
emergence of new players and the development of innovative mobile and internet
payment systems. The proposals also strengthen consumer rights on international
money transfers. EU payment laws should not just respond to today's market
needs, they should also look ahead to the coming years.