Author: SME Chamber

Commission orders a legal review of ACTA – The European Commission is to refer a controversial agreement on combating counterfeiting to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to rule on whether it complies with EU law.

Karel De Gucht, the European commissioner for trade, said the request for a legal opinion on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) would bring an immediate halt to the ratification of the deal, which has faced opposition from MEPs, member states and civil liberties groups.

He said the decision was taken to reassure European citizens that ACTA would not violate their rights. "Putting ACTA before the European Court of Justice is a necessary step," said De Gucht. "This debate must be based on facts and not on misinformation and rumour."

He said the Commission would ask the ECJ to check if the agreement was in line with the EU's fundamental rights, such as the freedom of expression, and whether it violated EU data protection rules and EU intellectual property rights.

De Gucht said he was confident that the ECJ would find that ACTA complied with EU laws. The accord would not give member states or the EU extra powers, he insisted. "ACTA will not censor websites or shut them down. ACTA will not hinder freedom of the internet or freedom of speech," he said.

Concerns

Critics fear the deal would curb internet users' rights. The accord was agreed in November 2010 after four years of negotiations between the EU's 27 members and ten other countries, including the US and Japan. It aims to improve the fight against counterfeit goods at international level through greater co-ordination of anti-counterfeiting measures and tougher enforcement.

Thousands of people have taken part in demonstrations in several member states to voice their opposition to the deal.

A growing number of MEPs have also voiced concerns over ACTA. The decision to refer the agreement to the ECJ was seen as a pre-emptive move by the Commission to avoid a stand-off with the European Parliament. Green MEPs have already come out against ACTA and the Socialists and Democrats group and the Liberals have warned that they might not be able to support the agreement. The consent of MEPs is needed for EU ratification.

David Martin, a UK centre-left MEP who is drafting the Parliament's position on ACTA, welcomed the Commission's decision. He said that the Parliament had "been calling for more clarity for a long time".

The referral to the ECJ would "be a good guarantee for the impact on fundamental rights",Martin said.

Jan Philipp Albrecht, a German Green MEP, said the court referral was "hopefully a nail in the coffin of this far-reaching and unnecessary agreement". A spokesman for the centre-right European People's Party said a ruling would help clear up uncertainty.

Commission officials declined to estimate how long it would take the ECJ to draft an opinion, but Parliament officials said it could take more than a year.

A top level conference, addressed by the President of the China Foreign Trade Centre, Mr Wang Runsheng who is visiting Malta from Feb 29 to March 3, and other speakers, will provide a unique opportunity for Maltese entrepreneurs and business leaders interested in developing trade with China.

The conference will be held on 2 March at the Chameleon Suite, Corinthia Palace, Attard at 10.00am and is expected to be concluded by around 1.00pm. It will explain how Maltese businesses can benefit from the forthcoming ‘China Import and Export Fair', known internationally as ‘the Canton Fair', held in Guangzhou City of China.

The 110^th session of the Canton Fair, which just concluded on Nov, 2011, attracted 210,468 overseas buyers from 210 countries and regions, with the business turnover amounted to 379 billion USD.

The 111th Session of the Canton Fair will be held between 15 April and 5 May, 2012. This edition will accommodate about 58,700 standard stands and over 20,000 Chinese exhibitors across a variety of sectors are participating in the Fair, which is attended by foreign trade delegations from all over the world.  Since its inception 55 years ago, the fair has been a major catalyst for international trade in and out of China.

"China is the world's fastest-growing economy, with growth rates averaging 10% over the past few decades. Yet the opportunities opening up in China have so far, been largely untapped by Maltese business. Events such as the Canton Fair, which is a major event on the business calendar, present an opportunity for all importers of Chinese products, exporters of finished goods and components, traders, hoteliers, in fact anyone seriously considering doing business with China," stated Mr Liu Meikun, Commercial Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Malta. "Business around the world are discovering the very substantial potential China can offer, why notMalta?"

Apart from Mr Liu Meikun, the Conference will also be addressed by Mr Maurice Mizzi, Chairman of the Maltese-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, which is also supporting this initiative. Those interested in attending should confirm their attendance before 27^th February by contacting Mr JonathanHarmsworth on or 79866881.

More information is available at www.cantonfair.org.cn/en

The European Economic and Social Committee's 478th plenary session provided the opportunity for EESC president Staffan Nilsson to welcome the president of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso for an in-depth debate on the EU 2020 strategy and the steps required to address the current crisis in Europe ahead of the Committee's vote on the related opinion on the Annual Growth Survey 2012.

The debate was followed by the adoption by the EESC's three groups (Employers, Workers, Various Interests) of a highly topical resolution, which stresses the Committee's grave concern at the current economic and financial situation in the European Union, the fundamental need for renewed European unity and solidarity, broader economic policy governance and a more ambitious budget to finance measures directed at promoting growth, SMEs, young people's access to the labour market and efficient energy policy.

The plenary session also saw the signature of the renewed protocol on cooperation between the European Commission and the EESC, which strengthens the EESC's role of enabling civil society participation in the policy-shaping and decision-making processes of the EU in the light of the Lisbon Treaty and provides for stronger civil society input into the definition of the EU's political priorities, the European Commission's annual work programme and the Europe 2020 Strategy. It further reinforces the role of the EESC in the EU's external action by involving civil society in the monitoring of the EU trade agreements and recognises its strengthened consultative role.

Staffan Nilsson opened the debate by welcoming the opportunity for an exchange of views on the Commission's priorities to help Europe recover from the crisis and the contribution civil society could make in this respect. "Indeed, I feel we need to talk more about the potential when we tackle the crisis", he said, underlining the Committee's conviction that what was needed now were structural reforms with a long-term effect, reforms that couple austerity programmes with measures conducive to stimulating growth and creating jobs. He further stressed the EESC's ongoing contribution to paving the way for a concrete action plan for sustainable development ahead of the Rio+ 20 summit and its commitment to making the Europe 2020 strategy a reality.

Mr Barroso thanked the EESC for its support of the implementation of the Europe 2020 national reform programmes, the Community method and the focus on sustainability, pointing to the EESC's fundamental role as a key interface between the European institutions and civil society. "This is not about ideology, it is a strategy", stated Mr Barroso, referring to deeper integration as the only way to defend European values, to safeguard the interests of European citizens and to maintain Europe's status in the world, especially its position vis-à-vis other political powers such as the US, Japan, China and India. He insisted that a strong Europe was unthinkable without strong social cohesion and that a key challenge was to achieve increased competitiveness without undermining the European social model.

Mr Barroso concluded by quoting Alexis de Tocqueville's "History is a gallery of pictures in which there are few originals and many copies", addressing the EU's unique ability to qualify as such a rare original.

In the ensuing debate, Henri Malosse, president of the EESC's Employers' group, echoed the statements by Mr Nilsson and Mr Barroso by drawing attention to some of the key assets the EU was able to rely on in the present situation, namely the new intergovernmental treaty, the 2014-2020 budget perspective and the all-important EU 2020 strategy, but stated that only the leaders of the European institutions can embody the European dream and spread the message among the European citizens. Georges Dassis, representing the EESC's Workers' group, compared the efforts to move forward as a united Europe to the works of Sisyphus and underlined the importance of ensuring respect of labour rights in the context of austerity and economic hardship, while Luca Jahier, president of the Various Interests' group, highlighted the issue of democratic legitimacy at the national and European level resulting from the current crisis and called on the Commission president to convene an extraordinary summit on the future of Europe which would directly involve its citizens.

The relevant opinion adopted by the EESC (rapporteur David Croughan, Employers' Group) addresses civil society's main concerns about the Annual Growth Survey 2012 (AGS). The AGS 2012 sets out what the Commission believes must be the EU's priorities for 2012 to boost growth and employment under the Europe 2020 strategy. The EESC's message with a view to the Spring European Council is clear: the Union must now demonstrate its political capacity to tackle the debt crisis by ambitious and sufficient measures to restore confidence. A much greater emphasis must be put on smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.

The opinion welcomes the increased focus on growth of the AGS 2012, especially since it takes on board many ideas reflected in the past opinion of the EESC on the 2011 Annual Growth Survey. However, the Committee is gravely concerned about the lack of implementation of commitments agreed upon in the European semester process and stresses that without decisiveness and effective implementation of reforms by European institutions and member states, Europe is set to face a long-term growth crisis.

The opinion expresses concern about the emphasis on austerity measures. Although there is no doubt that budgetary consolidation measures are necessary to correct severe fiscal imbalances, these should not put long-term sustainable growth in danger.

The EU needs to give ambitious answers to current challenges – such as creating jobs and improving its competitiveness in an ever increasing global competition – the ultimate goal remaining Europeans' well-being in the long term.

The European Commission has launched an in-depth consultation on the future of European company law. Europe needs a company law framework that is adapted to the needs of the society of today and to the evolution of the economic environment. EU company law has played a central part in building the single market. It is now time to see whether today's needs are still met by the existing legal framework. An on-line public consultation paper has therefore been launched to collect comments from all stakeholders. The deadline for sending contributions is 14 May 2012.

European company law provides a common set of rules that offers equivalent protection to shareholders, creditors and other stakeholders across the EU who are affected by companies' actions. Company law is crucial to ensure legal certainty and protect shareholders' rights. Whilst Member States different legal traditions and company structures must be respected, harmonisation of the basic rules makes it easier for companies to offer services and products to all customers in the Union.  The growth of cross-border trade and the development of e-commerce present many opportunities for businesses and consumers but they also present challenges for the existing company law framework. That is why reflection on how to adapt the existing framework to the new landscape of the 21st century is necessary. Moreover, today's challenges require us to look at company law not only from a purely legal perspective but in the wider context of corporate governance, corporate social responsibility and businesses' key role for innovation and growth.

Internal Market and Services Commissioner Michel Barnier said: "Shaping EU policy on European Company law is a challenge that we have to meet. Getting company law right makes it easier for businesses to develop across the EU to the benefit of their shareholders and customers. The landscape for company law is changing and we need to think about how best to adapt our regulatory framework. That is why I invite stakeholders to respond to the public consultation launched today."

What does the public consultation cover?

Input is requested both on the general orientation of European company law and on more specific initiatives that could be envisaged in the future. The following issues are covered in the consultation:

Objectives and scope of European company law What should be the main objectives of European company law? Are the current rules fit for today's challenges? In which areas is there need for further evolution?  What relationship between company law and corporate governance?

Codification of European company law – should the existing company law Directives be merged in a single instrument in order to make the regulatory framework more accessible and user-friendly?

The future of company legal forms at European level – What are the advantages and shortcomings of European company forms? Do existing company forms need to be reviewed? Should alternative instruments be explored?

Cross-border mobility for companies – What can be done to facilitate the cross-border transfer of a company's seat? What if a company splits into different entities cross border? Should the rules on cross border mergers be reviewed?

Groups of companies –  i.e. a set of companies under a single management or source of control – Is there need for EU policy action in this field?

Capital regime for European companies – Should the existing minimum legal capital requirements and rules on capital maintenance be modified and updated?

What are the next steps?

The consultation is open until 14 May 2012. The responses received will be analysed and a feedback statement summarising the results will be published.  Follow-up actions would be taken afterwards.

Background information

The existing European level legislation on company law includes a large number of directives and regulations. The harmonisation of European company law covers the protection of interest of shareholders and others, the constitution and maintenance of public limited-liability companies' capital, takeover bids, branches disclosure, mergers and divisions, minimum rules for single-member private limited-liability companies, shareholders' rights and related areas such as financial reporting and accounting. It also includes different European legal forms such as the European Company (SE), the European Economic Interest Grouping (EEIG) and the European Cooperative Society (SCE).

In 2011, the Commission issued a similar public consultation in the field of corporate governance. Both policy fields are closely linked as some corporate governance rules are enshrined in company law, and company law deals to a large extent with corporate governance issues. Thus, for the sake of coherence, any possible follow-up initiatives in these two fields would be announced jointly in the second half of 2012.

The consultation is accessible at:

http://ec.europa.eu/yourvoice/ipm/forms/dispatch?form=companylaw2012

GRTU is organising an information session during which Malta Enterprise will give a short presentation on the schemes available for businesses.

Tuesday 28^th February – 14.00hrs – GRTU

Contact: Abigail at GRTU on 21232881/3 or

to reserve a seat

The schemes we will be discussing are:

ERDF Funds:

International Competitiveness: Supports enterprises that are willing to establish a new market, or introduce a new service or product in an existing international market.  It aims to facilitate the building of internal capacities within the enterprise so as to encourage more enterprises to internationalise.

Small Start-up: Supports the growth of new enterprises having less than 50 employees. The scheme will reimburse 25% of the wage costs, utilities and rent/leasing of equipment and production facilities for start-ups that have been operating for less than 3 years

Innovation Actions: Help SMEs meet today's business challenges by stimulating the development and adoption of innovative processes, products and services.  The scheme will co-finance investment costs and sub-contracted services acquired for implementing an Innovation Management Technique (IMT). 

Innovation Actions (Environment): Supports SMEs to invest in eco-innovation solutions that support long term competitiveness and contribute to environmentally sustainable business activities by addressing water and air quality, waste streams and resource utilisation. The scheme will co-finance plant, machinery and equipment and certification costs.

e-Business Development: Supports SMEs who will invest in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) projects that integrate business functions, streamline workflows and enhance interactions with clients and suppliers. The scheme will co-finance ICT hardware costs and ICT software costs.

Research & Development: Help enterprises to carry out Research and Experimental Development activities leading to the development of new or significantly improved products, processes and services.  The scheme will co-finance the costs of wages, equipment, materials and contractual research specifically incurred as part of the research project.

Quality+: Encourages SMEs to continuously improve the quality of their products, services and processes through the achievement of recognised quality certifications and quality marks related to processes, products or services; etc…

MicroInvest: Supports micro enterprises (less than 9 full time employees) and the self-employed that invest in their business, innovate, expand, implement compliance directives and/or develop their operations. Through a tax credit representing a percentage of the eligible expenditure and wages of newly recruited employees and/or apprentices.

Business Advisory Services: Enterprises may benefit from the expertise of the advisors that will support them in their particular needs for development. Malta Enterprise would finance up to ten hours of free advisory services to help the enterprises and the assigned advisor to carry out preliminary assessments in the areas of: Marketing & Business Management, Research, Technological Development & Innovation, Business Advisory & Enterprise Support.

Create: This incentive aims to support creative businesses whose economic performance is directly linked to the creative talent of those involved in the business.  Further support is provided to help the development of creative communities in artistic zones thus sustaining the development of said zones and interdisciplinary creative cluster developments.

Business First: Malta Enterprise's one-stop-shop service for businesses with the aim of facilitating the day to day operations of local enterprises by providing over 50 different services currently being provided by various Government departments and entities, thus saving unnecessary running around for business owners.

Why did you become an entrepreneur? Used to be a Government employee but soon found out that this was not for me and that I wanted to be my own boss and I have no regrets and I and would do it over again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

How have you come to chose your line of business?

I have had different kinds of businesses along the years always trying to achieve the best.

Where did you go on your last holiday?

Grande Italia – In fact was in Rome last week. I love Rome as I love the way the Romans live.

What is your earliest memory?

It was when I was 21 years old in 1949 and I managed to bring the Luna Park for the first time in Malta.

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

I would chose to be me as I always did it my way!

The GRTU has this week presented a number of position papers to the Maltese Government, on which some we have also asked our MEPs for support since important votes were going to be taken in the European Parliament.

 

Alternative and Online Dispute Resolution: GRTU welcomed the Commission's proposals aimed to resolve disputes related to commercial transactions and practices in the European Union. Moreover, GRTU welcomed the Commission's aim to promote consumer confidence in the internal market as well as to encourage consumers to make more use of e-commerce. As things currently stand, the commerce sector is not able to make full use of its potential. Frequently, cross-border distribution is hindered by language problems, logistic and transport costs, cultural differences, density of population, producer rules or territorial supply restrictions imposed by brand manufacturers, even within the EU, payment systems and card costs for currency conversion. GRTU however also put forward a few aspects of the ADR Directive and the ODR Regulation, in particular the scope, the deadline for solving offline and online disputes, and the information obligations of the trader, which need to be adjusted in order to ensure the proper functioning of ADR.

Common European Sales Law: GRTU stated that it fully supports the Commission's aim to improve the functioning of the internal market and its efforts in trying to facilitate more online transactions by removing the barriers which are blocking the internal market and more specifically, online cross border sales. The business community has also supported the Commission to fully harmonise consumer protection law but the proposal on Consumer Rights Directive (CRD) showed that it is already very difficult to harmonise just a small part of consumer rights. The proposal on a Regulation on a Common European Sales Law (CESL) is offering one set of rules for cross-border trade, however it is not following the normal procedure for adopting new legislation. The proposal, as it currently stands, raises some questions that undermine the legal certainty it is supposed to provide. In order to make the proposal attractive for businesses and consumers, some changes to the Annex are needed. Currently it provides such a high consumer protection, that it will make it impossible for the majority of businesses to opt for this instrument. GRTU would like to stress that the optional instrument will only work if it adds value for consumers and provides opportunity for businesses. GRTU submitted more specific comments.

GRTU also put forward EuroCommerce's position paper Product Liability and UEAPME's position on Electromagnetic fields. GRTU had been consulted on these papers and presented them in line with its agreement.

The GRTU has this week attended a meeting at the Roads and Infrastructure Directorate (RID) to discuss the further expansion of Main Street Complex in Paola scheduled for the first week of March. The site is located in Paola's busy main square. It is approximately 30.0 metres deep and one of MEPA's conditions is to retain the existing façade. For this reason it was discussed there is no other logical way to work safely except to mobilize a tower crane that will be capable to carry out all different trades.

 

 

 

 

GRTU would like to inform that the base of the tower crane will be located by the building and will exceed slightly further than the pavement itself onto the parking bay. A safe passage for pedestrians going down in the direction of the Hibs club will be provided during the five (5) months of construction works. A safe passage will thus be constructed starting from current MAIN STREET complex and extending to the other side of the site with the main part being roofed over not to inconvene pedestrians with any possible concrete droplets or any other small debris. When lifting heavy objects, all pedestrian activity will stop until the material is hoisted from the truck to the site entrance. This agreement has been reached between the Paola Local Council, the GRTU and TM.

GRTU officials have this week met officials from the Occupational, Health and Safety Authority (OHSA) led by Dr Mark Gauci to discuss how both bodied can work closer for the benefit of the private sector.

 

GRTU called the meeting following publication of two Legal Notices earlier this year by the same OHSA. The meeting was called because the GRTU feels its members would benefit from more direct contact with the OHSA, through the GRTU, in the areas such as improved access to information, training, funding for adherence with standards, etc… The GRTU had in fact today week – 17.02.12 – congratulated the OHSA on the first legal notice it had issued this year, since the fines were of a civil nature and not criminal, however it had criticized the OHSA on the same legal notice as the GRTU wanted to see the same efforts by the OHSA to educate and not only to penalize.

The GRTU believes that there is much space for improvement in the way the private sector are guided. It is not enough to publish something on a website or through a legal notice and pretend that the private sector is to follow automatically. Health and Safety at work is an important issue, especially for small businesses who as a majority employ their family members or who's employees have been with them for a long time and therefore their health and safety is important. At the same time however their prime task and objective during a day is to do business and they therefore cannot be expected to spend a day in front of their computer monitoring for new rules and regulations that may affect them. A case in point is the second Legal Notice issued by the OHSA on maximum exposure to certain chemical agents at work. How many in the private sector affected by this law know about this obligation and what it means for them?

The GRTU has therefore discussed with the OHSA how the information flow will successfully also flow through the GRTU and how the approach of the authority, when providing information to the private sector, will become more dynamic and interactive.

The OHSA reminded the GRTU that they are a bit low on resources and therefore cannot concede to GRTU's request of holding a two hour consultation session for a particular sector every month. Following however pressure for the GRTU, as battling with limited resources is something that is common to practically everyone in Malta and the importance justifies the effort, the OHSA did however agree to collaborate with the GRTU according to the work they had at hand. Prior to enforcement they would be doing, according to the legal notice they publish, etc…

GRTU is pleased with this arrangement and considers it to be a good start which will lead to a more effective regard of OHS standards. The GRTU and the OHSA have already identified a number of topics and sectors that will be tackled during the coming year.