Author: SME Chamber

A Commission Recommendation on a coordinated control plan to
carry out a series of DNA tests in EU Member States was endorsed yesterday by
experts meeting at the Standing Committee on the Food Chain. This is the second
time the Commission is coordinating such a control plan to find out if
horsemeat is still being fraudulently added to products labelled as beef.

The EU's app
sector has gone from zero to digital superhero in less than five years. By 2018
it could employ 4.8 million people and contribute €63 billion to the EU
economy, figures released today reveal. The app economy employs 1 million
developers, and 800,000 people in marketing and support posts.

From 1 January
2015, telecommunications, broadcasting and electronic services will always be
taxed in the country where the customer belongs*

– whether customer is a
business or consumer

– whether supplier based in
the EU or outside

* For a business (taxable
person) = either the country where it is registered or the country where it has
fixed premises receiving the service.

* For a consumer (non-taxable
person) = the country where they are registered, have their permanent address
or usually live.

The practical guidelines
published by the European Commission in English in late 2013 can be accessed
from:
http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/taxation/vat/how_vat_works/telecom/index_en.htm.

Today the Commission adopted two reports which shed more light
on problems linked to fighting Value Added Tax (VAT) fraud within the EU, and
which identify possible remedies. The first report looks at VAT collection and
control procedures across the Member States, within the context of EU own
resources.

The euro area
seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 12.0% in December 2013, remaining
stable since October. It was 11.9% in December 2012. The EU unemployment rate
was 10.7% in December 2013, down from 10.8% in November. It was 10.8% in
December 2012. These figures were published on 31 January by Eurostat, the
statistical office of the European Union.

Eurostat estimates that 26.2 million
men and women in the EU, of whom 19 million were in the euro area, were
unemployed in December 2013. Compared with November 2013, the number of
unemployed persons decreased by 162,000 in the EU and by 129,000 in the euro
area. Compared with the previous year, December 2012, unemployment decreased by
173,000 in the EU28, but increased by 130,000 in the euro area. The lowest
unemployment rates were recorded in Austria (4.9%), Germany (5.1%) and
Luxembourg (6.2%), and the highest in Greece (27.8% in October 2013) and Spain
(25.8%). Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate increased in fourteen
Member States, fell in thirteen and remained stable in Sweden.

Malta was recorded as the
5th Member State with the lowest unemployment rate at 6.7% as at December 2013.

Tourism has
been one of the strongholds of the European economy during the economic crisis,
and the positive trend will continue in 2014, with only 11% of Europeans expect
not to go away. According to the new Eurobarometer survey published, the sector
has been an engine of domestic demand-driven economic growth in 2013, with more
people choosing to spend holidays outside of their own country but within the
EU.

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. Micro enterprises and self-employed will be supported
through a tax credit representing a percentage of the eligible expenditure and
wages of newly recruited employees and/or apprentices.

The MicroInvest 2013 covers costs 
incurred and paid for between 1st January 2013 and 31st December 2013
for:

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

More info:
www.maltaenterprise.com/en/support/microinvest

GRTU President
Paul Abela and GRTU EU Desk Coordinator Abigail Psaila Mamo welcomed FZZ to
GRTU. The polish representatives from the group of trade unions FORUM said that
like Malta they have a social dialogue based on a tri-partite structure, very
similar to MCESD.

GRTU President Paul Abela has called on future MEPs to stay
close to businesses and safeguard their interest during their work at the
European Parliament. He also emphasized that Access to Finance is of utmost
importance because you can have very valid ideas but if there are no finances
nothing can be done.

He also said that even though we were very disappointed
that marginal dialogue existed with our previous MEPs we look at the future
with much
more hope and invited the candidates to stay in close contact with the GRTU.

This took place this morning at an event organized by the
European Parliament office in Malta where the Maltese Business Manifesto for
the European Parliament elections was presented. The European Parliament Office
did an excellent job in compiling the individual proposals presented by the
business organizations into one comprehensive manifesto.

The Head of the Office Dr Peter Agius said that this was an
exercise aimed at give businesses a voice in the next elections. He continued
saying that in any discussion at EU level on any policies stakeholders are
always involved. In most of these cases business is a main stakeholder.

Various candidates for the EP election were present as well
as one current MEP Dr Roberta Metsola.