Author: SME Chamber

Is-CVA hi sistema' teknika kif ikun ikkontrollat il-flow
tat-traffiku gol-Belt u kif ikunu razzjonati in-numru ta' parking places disponibbli
fiz-zona ta' gewwa tal-Belt. Is-CVA hi 
imhaddma min nies teknici. Jekk hux qed jithallas hafna jew ftit jara
l-Gvern.

Pero is-sistema flok b'parking meters li jimblukkaw u jkerrhu
il-bankini gol-Belt, tickets li n-nies iridu joghqodu jixtru kull darba,
is-sistema tahdem bil-cameras li jirrekordjaw min jidhol u fi x'hin jidhol u
min johrog u fi x'hin johrog u s-sistema, lil dawk li m'humiex privileggjati,
tohrogilhom il-kont.

Din is-sistema idahhlet ghax qabel it-toroq tal-Belt,
qabel it-tmienja ta' fil-ghodu kienu jkunu ppakjati mill-haddiema li jidhlu
kmieni l-Belt u jibqghu hemm sal-hamsa. Ir-Rizultat kien li tal-hwienet u kull
min irid jixtri jew jinqeda mis-servizzi tal-Belt, Dipartimentali, Qorti, etc
ma kienu jsibu post jipparkjaw imkien. Dan barra l-hsara kbira ambjentali. Il-Policy
dwar kif tithaddem is-CVA hu l-argument u mhux is-sistema. Id-decizjoni ta'
kemm parking slots huma disponibbli ghall-pubbliku, klijenti u negozji,
jiddependi minn kemm il-Gvern jew is-Sindku tal-Belt jaghtu permessi biex
jinghalqu toroq u fuq kemm ikun hemm postijiet ta' parking riservati. Illum
in-numru ta' parking spaces b'kaxxa bajda disponibbli ghal min irid jinqeda
bis-servizzi tal-Belt naqas sew u fil-Belt hemm tgergir kbir ghax ghax dan qed
jaghmel dannu lin-negozji u jdejjaq lin-nies.

L-Istess il-kwistjoni tal-hlas. Mhux is-CVA operators
jiddeciedu kemm trid thallas (u kemm jiffranka min b'daqqa ta' pinna jezentawh)
imma l-Gvern (Malta Transport Authority). L-Istess f'liema granet u f'liema
hinijiet tithaddem is-sistema.

Il-GRTU qed tikkonsulta man-negozji kollha biex
tistabbilixi l-ahjar pariri li tista taghti lil Gvern ghax kif inhi il-policy
li thaddem is-sistema tas-CVA illum mhux taghti rizultati tajbin. Zgur li
thaddmet hazin u r-rizultat hu li hemm tgergir kullimkien. Biex tinstab
soluzzjoni gusta ghas-sidien tan-negozji, ambjent, residenti, u l-eluf ta'
cittadini Maltin u turisti li jridu jinqdew u jgawdu l-Belt, irid ikun hemm
ko-operazzjoni minn kulhadd.

Hadd ma jrid jippretendi li hu akbar minn haddiehor.
Kulhadd ghandu drittijiet imma privileggi m'ghandu jkollu hadd.

Did you
know that you have consumer credit rights when applying for a loan? The European
Consumer Credit Directive (CCD) adopted by the EU and transposed into our
national legislation as of the 18th of January 2013 ensures a high level of
consumer protection and empowers consumers to make informed choices when taking
out credit.

Shipping within
the EU is not reaching its full potential – mainly due to considerable
administrative requirements which cost time and money and make shipping less
attractive than other modes of transport.

Figures
released reveal that more than 3 million students have benefitted from EU
Erasmus grants since the exchange scheme's launch in 1987. The statistics,
covering the 2011-2012 academic year, show that more than 250 000 Erasmus
students – a new record – spent part of their higher education studies abroad
or took up a job placement with a foreign company to boost their employability.
33 countries participate in the Erasmus scheme: EU Member States, Iceland,
Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey.

The team of EU
negotiators, headed by chief negotiator Ignacio Garcia Bercero, has arrived in
Washington to start the first round of negotiations on the EU-US Transatlantic
Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). In this first round of talks, a range
of issues will be discussed in different working groups:

45% of European internet users willing to upgrade or change supplier
for higher speed – Internet speed
is emerging as a top issue for internet users according to the latest EU-wide
survey of how Europeans use the internet.

Nearly half (45%) of Europeans
households would upgrade their Internet subscription or switch supplier for a
higher speed broadband, closing the gap with price as in the race for most
important factor when choosing an internet plan.

European
Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes: "Consumers increasingly care about
their internet being fast enough to watch videos, for example. And for those who
run businesses from their home, speed is also a competitiveness issue.
Consumers now focus on both speed and price when making their choices."

The Employment
and Training Corporation (ETC) has just launched a scheme that aims to directly
assist employers on new employment (or employment within the last 3 months) of
individuals registered as disabled persons.

The aim
of this project is to help persons with disabilities to be able to enter the
work force, by giving them the necessary training and support required. For
this project, four types of services are offered:

1. Learning Support Assistant (LSA)

The
Learning Support Assistant will assist the registered disabled person (RDP)
during the training assigned for the client to attend. This service is for
training courses during the duration of this project.

2. Occupational Therapist, Occupational Psychologist or Clinical
Psychologist

This
service is offered for the assessment of the participants' eligibility for the
Job Coaching and Personal Assistance Programme. If the client is eligible, the
personalisation of the Job Coaching programme and Personal Assistance programme
according to the previous feedback received.

3. Job Coaching

This
service is offered when the client is placed on a scheme (such as the Bridging
the Gap) or starts working. The Job Coach will support the disabled person in
work related needs on the place of work. The Job Coach Service provided to the
RDP is given on the advice and guidance of the OP and/or CP following the
individual assessment. The OP and /or COP will provide the ETC with feedback on
the particular case and whether the necessary Job Coaching service is required
and to what extent.

4. Personal Assistance Service Allowance

The
Personal assistance service refers to the assignment of an employee by the
employer to support the disabled person in work related needs on the place of
work. The personal assistance to the RDP given on the advice and guidance of
the OP and/or CP following the individual assessment. The OP and/or CP will
provide the ETC with feedback on the particular case and whether the necessary
personal assistance is required.

An
allowance will be given to time lost by the employee whom is to stand in as a
Personal Assistant to the Disabled person.

The first six
months of 2013 have been very hectic for the Malta Shortsea Promotion Centre
and the programme for the second half of the year promises to be as
involving.  Changes were made to the
statute of MSPC which is now officially registered as an NGO so that it can now
apply for EU funds particularly for educational purposes.  

Apart
from the monthly newsletter, the regular updating of the website and the
monthly board meeting, the MSPC was also involved in:

–     Meetings in Brussels and Paris which dealt with the workings of
the European Shortsea Network;

–     Meetings in Malta with MEUSAC on funding for educational courses
that MSPC intends to sponsor;

–     Discussions with prospective members to add more members to the
Center – where we have added four new members;

–     Participation in the European Maritime Day that saw MSPC
organize together with the European Commission (DG for Maritime Affairs and
Fisheries) and the Maltese Ministry for the Economy, Investment and Small
Business, and the Maltese Ministry for Tourism a seminar on the sustainable
coastal and maritime tourism in the wider context of blue growth.  This seminar was coordinated with the Swedish
Agency for Marine and Water Management Clean Shipping Index and the Region of
Västra Götaland.  It was a very well
attended seminar and highly participative.

–     Direct involvement in the ESN Project "ESN – The Way Forward"
dealing with the collation of data and other market information on shortsea
shipping on a Europe wide basis.  This
project forms part of the Marco Polo Project. 
Not only is MSPC participating actively in three different work
packages, but we have been also appointed as coordinators for the East Med
sector.

The next
six months have a number of defined objectives, namely:

1.   Completion of the ESN Project by November;

2.   Groundwork for the securing of funds from the EU for organising a
training seminar for Maltese participants at the Escola de Shortsea Shipping in
Barcelona;

3.   Meeting with respective entities – Transport Malta, Chamber of
Commerce, GRTU – to present the workings of MSPC;

4.   Finalizing internal study on the educational and training courses
in Malta related to transport and logistics.

The main
objective of MSPC remains that of being a source of information for EU matters
relating to shortsea shipping and thereby assisting in the development of
Malta's potential in shortsea shipping.

For
further details and membership, one can contact the Malta Shortsea Promotion Centre
on

The European
Council has adopted a decision allowing Latvia to adopt the euro as its
currency as of 1 January 2014. this decision will extend the euro area to 18
member states and gives Latvia almost 6 months to prepare for the changeover.

The
Council also adopted regulations setting a permanent conversion rate for the
Latvian lats against the euro, and adapting certain technical provisions on the
euro.

The
conversion rate is set at 0.702804 Latvian lats to one euro, which corresponds
to the current central rate of the lats in the EU's exchange rate mechanism
(ERMM II).

The
decision was taken at a meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs
Council.  In the light of reports from
the commission and the European Central Bank, the European Council welcomes the
fact that Latvia had fulfilled all the convergence criteria set out in the EU
Treaty and the Commission's proposal for it to join the euro.