Author: SME Chamber

The GRTU generally welcomes the changes being introduced by the revision of the Trade Licensing Act. The Trade Licensing Act is being revised following analysis with the aim to simplify existing procedures, making the process less time consuming, closing any loop holes in the existing law and further clarifying its application 

The GRTU in particular made the following observations:

1. The most important revision is that we will be moving away from the requirement of submitting applications for a trade license for most sectors. This means that the sectors that are not connected with health or food shall no longer need to apply but simply notify the Department. With the notification one will be able to pay immediately instead of waiting for the acknowledgement. This should further accelerate the process.

2. The list of sectors and activities falling under the scope of the Department will be clarified. The requirement to submit a full MEPA permit will be waived and replaced by the requirement to only provide the MEPA permit number.

3. The commitment to issue a license within 10 days is welcomed. Cancellation of license will also be simplified however it is imperative for the fees and arrears to be paid. In addition the revision would introduce the concept that licenses are automatically renewable subject to the conditions of the license being respected.

4. The GRTU nonetheless wishes a clarification on the topic of ad hoc operators of stalls and kiosks as provided in Article 4A (2) (c). The GRTU emphasizes that a lacuna already exists in the Local Councils Act regarding the permit (or otherwise) required by such operators. It condemns illegal operators of kiosks and stalls who enter unfair competition with trade license holders during the most crucial periods (festivities, local feasts etc). The GRTU proposes that applications for these temporary stalls and kiosks are regulated by ad hoc legislation in order to iron out the differences which currently exist between the Local Councils Act, the Trade Licences Act and the amendments being proposed to the Trade Licences Act. The GRTU will not condone any such stalls/kiosks operators obtaining temporary permits who are blatently in breech of existing legislation, particularly those which adversely affect existing fixed traders and retailers.

5. This includes stalls/kiosks operators not having a trading licence; as well as the unecessary breach of the 50 metre rule, particularly in the case of applicants who are in competition with existing traders and retailers in the immediate vicinity. To this effect the GRTU proposes that an impartial and independent Board or Committee is set up in order to process applications for such temporary permits to avoid repeat occurances of the past years.

6. The current legislation provides for a variety of licence fees according to the size of the premises, in case of manufacturing activities and premises having a footprint over 800mts the license fee is calculated as 5% of the rental of the premises used. This leads to exorbitant fees in some cases and is discriminatory against small manufacturing premises, since while their fee is based on rent that of others of the same premises size, who are not manufacturers, is based on square meters. GRTU is therefore pleased that the licences will be capped.

 

The GRTU takes the opportunity to remind all businesses that all economic operations require a trade license to operate.

Vince Farrugia, GRTU Director General and EESC Employer's Representative, has this week strongly contributed to the EESC draft Opinion  on the Europe for Citizens Programme during the 2nd Study Group.

Citizens should be at the very centre of European policies. The current Europe for Citizens programme 2007-2013 provides a legal framework to support a wide range of activities and organisations promoting European citizenship. The new programme will support activities to increase awareness and citizens' understanding of the EU, its values and history, such as the remembrance of Europe's past and partnerships between cities (town-twinning). It will also help people become more engaged in civic and democratic activities. This will fit in with the Commission's plans to designate 2013 as the "European Year of Citizens, which will aim to increase citizens' participation in EU policy-making, particularly the 2014 European Parliament elections.

During the study group Vincent Farrugia insisted that the Communication should concentrate more on the problem of Youth and the disenchantment of Youth on EU economic policies. He referred to the specific case of Malta where a heavy balance has been found on fiscal discipline and policies promoting economic growth and employment.

"Youth need to be treated better so they feel more attuned to European citizenship, irrespective of the economic policies supported by the Commission, which hopefully would be transformed to the benefit of youth employment, the future of the EU depends on the younger generation that thinks on themselves first and foremost as EU citizens and not as nationals of another Member State. For this to succeed, the younger generation must feel that beyond the tremendous education possibilities and additional social fund support that the EU has provided, the EU has, through its economic policies created enough jobs and labour mobility within the union for all the younger generation to be engaged in what matters most for them: Choice of career and ability to be effectively economically engaged in the development of a greater union". Stated Vincent Farrugia.

The final EESC draft Opinion will be presented for voting during the 482nd Plenary Session on 12th July, the final document including a number of amendments proposed by Vincent Farrugia as EESC Employers representative.

GRTU today held a successful information meeting for businesses interested in investing in  Libya. Participants were given an overview of the very important new Libya Investment Law by the exceptional Hala Bugaighis, Managing Partner, Awras Consulting Company. 

The same meeting will be held again next Monday 4th June at 16.00 hrs at GRTU. Seating is limited so registration with Abigail Mamo is required on or 21232881.

Il-GRTU izzomm ill-Malta Enterprise responsabbli tal-hsara lil min hu bla htija – Il-GRTU – Kamra Maltija ghan-Negozji Zghar u Medji llum laqqghet lill-beneficcjarji u lill-fornituri li applikaw biex jibbenefikaw taht xi wahda mill-iskemi mhaddma mill-Malta Enterprise taht il-fondi Ewropej li jaghmlu parti mill-European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Dawn il-fondi qed jithaddmu biex jghinu lill-intraprizi Maltin jinstallaw sistemi ta' panelli fotovoltaici.

Wara verifikazzjoni interna permezz tal-Awdituri interni imqabbda mill-Malta Enterprise, il-Malta Enterprise iddecidiet li tissospendi l-iskema ta' assistenza u li hemm bizzejjed evidenza biex tqabbad lill-Pulizija tinvestiga aktar kazi ta' suspett ta' dikjarazzjonijiet foloz bil-ghan li applikanti li jgawdu minn assistenza li taghha ma jkunux gustifikati.

Il-GRTU sa mill-bidu nett ta' dan oggezzjonat li l-applikanti kollha taht l-erba' skemi s'issa mhaddma mill-Malta Enterprise, gew identifikati qishom suspetti ta' attivita' illicita' u gew kollha suggettati li jkunu msejjha ghall-interogazzjoni mill-Pulizija meta setgha l-ewwel gie stabbilit internament mill-Malta Enterprise, min prima facia setgha kien hati u mhux gara li, gie imcappas kulhadd. Ir-Rizultat hu li s-sidien ta' intraprizi Maltin qed jigu msejha id-Depot tal-Pulizija sahansitra il-Hadd biex ikunu investigati qishom kriminali. Il-GRTU oggezzjonat ukoll bil-kbir li twaqqfu l-iskemi kollha u t-tielet li l-hlasijiet lil intraprizi twaqqfu meta l-Malta Enterprise bhala l-promottur taht il-Ligi tal-intrapriza Maltija taf li l-waqfien tal-hlasijiet fuq xoghol diga' ordnat u fuq materjali diga' stokkjati u mhallsa, se jpoggu hafna ditti f'diffikultajiet finanzjarji meta m'hemmx hjiel li dawn huma hatja ta' xi att illecitu.

Il-GRTU tistenna li aktar carezza u gustizzja tithaddem f'dan il-kaz ghax jidher li l-affarijiet qed isiru bl-ghaggla irrispettivament mill-hsara li qed issir lill-intraprizi li mxew b'mod korrett.

Mil-Laqgha tal-lum fil-GRTU harget car li l-bicca l-kbira tal-intraprizi applikanti taht l-erba' skemi diga' baghtew bizejjed fid-dewmien inspjegabbli biex isiru l-hlasijiet dovuti u mhux spjegabbli li min m'hemm xejn kontrih ghandu issa jbati aktar bl-iskuza ta' din l-investigazzjoni.

Il-GRTU f'isem il-membri applikanti tal-erba' skemi l-ewwel nett qed titlob li id-dewmien minhabba investigazzjonijiet ghandu jigi rifless f'estenzzjoni tad-data sa meta ghandhom jitlestew l-installazzjonijiet. Il-GRTU qed taghmilha cara u pubblika li f'isem l-applikanti zzomm lill-Malta Enterprise responsabbli tal-hsara kummercjali, ta' kull dewmien u ta' kull implikazzjoni ingusta ta' xi htija li taghha ma jkunux responsabbli.

 

State Aid: Commission adopts rules on national support for industry electricity costs in context of the EU Emission Trading Scheme  – The European Commission has adopted a framework under which Member states may compensate some electro-intensive users, such as steel and aluminium producers, for part of the higher electricity costs expected to result from a change to the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) as from 2013.

 

The rules ensure that national support measures are designed in a way that preserves the EU objective of decarbonising the European economy and maintains a level playing field among competitors in the internal market. The sectors deemed eligible for compensation include producers of aluminium, copper, fertilisers, steel, paper, cotton, chemicals and some plastics.

Commission Vice-President in charge of competition policy Joaquín Almunia said: "If production shifts from the EU to third countries with less environmental regulation , this could undermine our objective of a global reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. There may be such a risk in some sectors, given the expected impact of the ETS on electricity costs as from 2013. The rules adopted today allow Member States to address this issue while maintaining incentives to decarbonise production and consumption and minimising any distortions of competition."

The reform of the ETS agreed in 2009 and taking effect from 2013 onwards means that electricity bills for companies in the EU are expected to increase as a result of the stricter cap under the ETS post 2012. The Commission has therefore adopted a Communication setting out the criteria under which Member States may support some categories of users which are expected to be particularly affected by the ETS reform.

Based on official Eurostat data collected from Member States and input from public consultations, the Commission has identified a certain number of sectors that are deemed to be at a significant risk of carbon leakage. Carbon leakage means that global greenhouse gas emissions increase when companies in the EU shift production outside the EU because they cannot pass on the cost increases induced by the ETS to their customers without a significant loss of market share to third country competitors. The Commission has assessed in which sectors there existed a genuine risk of carbon leakage and consulted Member States and stakeholders. If the conditions set out in these new rules are met, aid to compensate for EU ETS allowance costs passed on to electricity prices in these sectors will be considered compatible with the internal market.

The new rules carefully balance several key objectives. They aim to mitigate the impact of indirect CO2 costs for the most vulnerable industries, thereby preventing carbon leakage which would undermine the effectiveness of the EU ETS. At the same time, the rules have been designed to preserve the price signals created by the EU ETS in order to promote a cost-effective decarbonisation of the economy. They are also designed to minimise competition distortions in the internal market by avoiding subsidy races within the EU at a time of economic uncertainty and budgetary discipline.

The rules allow subsidies of up to 85% of the increase faced by the most efficient companies in each sector from 2013 to 2015, a cap that will gradually fall to 75% in 2019-2020.

Moreover, the construction of new highly efficient power plants which will implement an environmentally safe capture and geological storage of CO2 (CCS-ready) by 2020 may receive support of up to 15% of the investment costs.

Background

In March 2007, the European Council adopted a climate and energy package, with the aim to combat climate change and increase the EU's energy security while strengthening its competitiveness. The ETS Directive as amended in 2009 is a central component of that policy. It lays down two binding targets to be achieved by 2020: first, a reduction of CO2 emissions by 20% from the emissions level in 1990 and, second, increasing the share of renewable energy sources in the EU to 20% of overall energy consumption over the same time span. At the same time the European Council established a (non-binding) target to increase energy efficiency by 20% by 2020.

The 20% reduction target remains valid, although the EU is committed to moving to a legally binding 30% reduction commitment depending on international action. The EU's objective is to reduce CO2 emissions by 80-95% by 2050.

The full text of the communication will be available at:

http://ec.europa.eu/competition/sectors/energy/legislation_en.html

The European Court has upheld the Commission's 2007 decision on MasterCard, ruling that the MIF set ‘a floor under the costs charged to merchants and thus constituted a restriction of price competition that was to their detriment.'

 

EuroCommerce, the European Retail Round Table (ERRT) and GRTU applaud this excellent ruling. EuroCommerce Director-General Christian Verschueren said, "We are delighted with this decision, which wholly vindicates retail's ten-year campaign against these anti-competitive fees. We now call on the Commission to follow this up with radical and decisive regulatory solutions to make payments in Europe truly competitive."

We commend the court on its unequivocal rulings on the economic basis of the multilateral interchange fee (MIF): these clearly show that the court upholds the Commission's view on the anti-competitive nature of the MIF. The retail sector has long argued that the MIF is an unseen and non-negotiable burden for merchants and the Commission's own figures show that card transactions cost EU merchants €25 billion per year.

Dennis Kredler, Director-General of the European Retail Round Table (ERRT) added, "This ruling is excellent news. We now need a robust methodology to regulate how the costs for payment card services are calculated and allocated. The Green Paper on mobile card and internet payments is an excellent opportunity to establish an obligation on card companies to offer a basic payment service."

What happens next?

The Court's judgment means that the MasterCard cross-border MIF is contrary to EU competition law and must be removed. We also trust that the national competition authorities will now follow the European Court's lead. However, a long-term business model must still be found, through regulatory measures already begun by the Commission Green Paper on Payments. We urge the Commission to tackle the business model issue head-on; solving the associated issues of cross-border acquiring, the honour all cards rule (HACR) and transparency would be simply not enough. We call on the Commission to implement the basic payment service model.

Basic payment service

The MIF burdens the retail sector with the excessive cost of bundled services from which the merchant does not benefit. We therefore advocate the stripping away of all these extra services and the creation, by regulation, of a mandatory basic payment service. This service, which should exist on each and every SEPA payment card, would offer consumers and merchants the facility to make a payment, which would carry a fee for the service but would not have a MIF. In short, we advocate the unbundling of the basic payment operation from all other additional services which may be offered by a payment scheme.

Background

In 1997, EuroCommerce lodged complaints with the European Commission against EuroPay (now part of MasterCard Incorporated) and Visa. Ten years later the European Commission issued a decision which confirmed that: 1) MasterCard's MIF, in effect, sets a minimum price that merchants must pay to their acquiring bank, and therefore infringes Article 101(1) of the Treaty of the European Union and 2) MasterCard failed to show that the conditions (in essence efficiency) of Article 101 (3), which give exemption from the Article 101 prohibition, were satisfied. In 2007, the Commission ruled that MasterCard's MIF was in breach of European competition law and ordered the card scheme to remove it. As a consequence, MasterCard set its cross-border MIF to zero in 2008, but appealed the Commission decision. The European Court has now rejected that appeal and upheld the Commission decision. MasterCard can still appeal to the higher court on a point of law.

Since this year is the last year for the 7^th Framework Programme you are encouraged to attend and understand how you can tap into EU funding for Research.

During the session we will have a brief overview of FP7 and a detailed outline of the 2013 Health Calls scheduled to be issued in July 2012. A European Commission Representative will also be present. A Maltese Evaluation Expert will also give us his perspective and a success story will be presented.

Send an email on  for further info.

Date: Friday 8th June 2012

Venue : Mater Dei Hospital

Time: 10:00am

Why did you become an entrepreneur? I was married to an entrepreneur. How have you come to choose your line of business? It is a family line of business

Where did you go on your last holiday?

Greece – I was born there so I like everything

What is your earliest memory?

2nd World War – when I was 3 years old

If you could chose to be someone famous who would you be and why?

I am happy as I am !

Fl-okkażjoni tat-tmien anniversarju mis-sħubija ta' Malta fl-Unjoni Ewropea, il-MEUSAC se jorganizza konferenza nazzjonali f'Għawdex dwar l-esperjenza ta' Għawdex bħala gżira-reġjun fl-Unjoni Ewropea matul dawn l-aħħar tmien snin.

Din il-konferenza se ssir nhar it-Tlieta, 12 ta' Ġunju 2012, fil-Grand Hotel, l-Imġarr, Għawdex.

Matul il-konferenza ser tingħata ħarsa dettaljata dwar kif Għawdex għamel użu mill-fondi tal-Unjoni Ewropea. Ikun hemm ukoll diskussjoni b'panel magħmul minn numru ta' esponenti minn diversi setturi Għawdxin. L-udjenza preżenti tkun mistiedna tagħti l-kontribut tagħha u tipparteċipa b'mod attiv.

Id-diskors tal-għeluq tal-konferenza ser isir mill-Prim Ministru ta' Malta, L-Onor. Lawrence Gonzi.

Kull min jixtieq jirreġistra, huwa ġentilment mitlub jibgħat email fuq  u fiha jinkludi l-isem u l-kunjom ta' kull min se jattendi, l-isem tal-organizazzjoni li qed tkun rappreżentata, kif ukoll numru tat-telefown, jew iċempel fuq 2200 3300 u jsaqsi għal Brian Pace.