Author: SME Chamber

GRTU Malta Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises has always stated and will continue to state that Eco Contribution legislation enacted in September 2004 remains the most haphazard and illogical tax ever placed on the Business community.

With this consistency GRTU has strived with the relevant Authorities for these last years to make sure that Businesses are not made to double pay for their environmental obligations.

Statements made by Greenpak are not true. Enterprises that chose to join GreenPak back in 2006 effectively were paying double for their environmental obligation, paying GreenPak and also Eco Contribution. These same enterprises are now only being refunded for the period 2005 to 2008, a percentage of what they contributed to Greenpak and not even a full Eco Contribution Refund. This is specifically outlined in Legal Notice 158 of 2011.

Packaging waste producers (importers) who joined Green MT after 1^st July 2009 are exempt from the payment of Eco Contribution as outlined by Legal Notice 84 of 2010. This Legal Notice is of course applicable to one and all. GreenPak members were in the doldrums in respect to refunds until Legal Notice 158 of 2011 was issued in May 2011. That is definately the truth.

If you were a producer and did not join a Scheme sometime between 2006 and 2009, MEPA, as the Competent Authority, has issued an administrative Compliance fine of Euro 50 per year for Compliance. Enterprises that joined GreenPak in those years paid much more in fees to Greenpak, and now can only expect to take back a percentage of the fees paid to Greenpak and nothing in respect to Eco Contribution payments in the same period. This percentage refund only if you were an Eco Contribution payer. If not the enterprise surely paid more in GreenPak fees than the administrative penalty of €50 imposed by MEPA today.

As for the sweeping statement that ‘these penalties ran into thousands of Euros' it is to be noted that those producers who did not comply in 2010 and were not members of any Authorised Packaging Schemes were liable to pay Euro 100 per tonne for 2010 Compliance.

"Such statements by GreenPak are a mere attempt of placing GRTU and Green MT in a bad light. Green MT is today by far Malta's National and largest Authorised Waste Packaging Scheme, with well over 1100 members" states Green MT Ceo, Joe Attard.

GRTU has always insisted with the Authorities that a fair and level playing field had to be established for all sectors of industry. Every importer places packaging in the market. Whilst GRTU has been working on Packaging waste legislation with consistency and honesty, GreenPak continues to try and thrive on untruths. GreenPak is aware of the reality.

The statements issued recently by GreenPak are not only outright lies but only try to distabilise a growing commitment by the Business community to further take up responsibility of their own packaging waste.

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The GRTU has been informed about the below excerpts from the EU official journal in relation to developments in anti-dumping and anti-subsidy cases for the information of our members:

• imposing a provisional anti-dumping duty on imports of certain seamless pipes and tubes of stainless steel originating in the People's Republic of China
• terminating the anti-dumping proceeding on imports of polyester staple fibres originating in the People's Republic of China
• Notice of the impending expiry of anti-dumping measures on 14.3.2012 on Tungsten electrodes from China
• Notice of initiation of a partial interim review of the anti-dumping measures applicable to imports of potassium chloride originating, inter alia, in Russia
• terminating the expiry review and ‘the new exporter' review of the anti-dumping measures concerning imports of certain magnesia bricks originating in the People's Republic of China
• Notice of the impending expiry of anti-dumping measures on 27.4.2012 on Ironing boards from China and Ukraine
• Notice of initiation of an anti-dumping proceeding concerning imports of certain seamless pipes and tubes of iron or steel, excluding seamless pipes and tubes of stainless steel, originating in Belarus
• Notice of initiation of an expiry review of the anti-dumping measures applicable to imports of certain seamless pipes and tubes of iron or steel originating in Croatia, Russia and Ukraine
• Notice of the impending expiry of anti-dumping measures on 18.4.2012 on Certain frozen strawberries from China

Contact Abigail Mamo at GRTU for the full text.

For open international trade to bring about global welfare gains it is essential that it be conducted on a level playing field between domestic and foreign producers. Two situations in which such a level playing field arguably does not exist are imports of subsidised or dumped goods. In such cases, most importing economies protect their domestic industry through trade defence instruments, i.e. anti-dumping or anti-subsidy measures.

In the European Union, the legal basis for these instruments is provided by the relevant WTO agreements which have been transposed into EU legislation by two Council Regulations on protection against dumped and subsidised imports from countries not members of the European Union.

Recently, the European Commission's Directorate-General for Trade has decided to evaluate the European Union's trade defence activities, specifically the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy instruments. The evaluation, which is being carried out by BKP Development, includes consultations of a wide range of stakeholders.

As part of the consultations an online survey was developed. The purpose of the survey is to collect the views of EU firms about trade defence instruments, and to learn about their experience with EU anti-dumping and anti-subsidy instruments. Answering all questions will take about 15 to 20 minutes.

The survey will be open until 31 July 2011. Direct link to survey:

www.bkpdevelopment.com/index.php?option=com_bfsurvey_pro&view=sayg&catid=5&Itemid=87&lang=en

The plans for the post-2013 EU budget unveiled by the European Commission tick the right boxes in terms of spending priorities, although their benefits for small companies will largely depend on the final budget available and on the concrete implementation of the various headers and programmes.

GRTU was particularly pleased by the Commission's proposal to increase the amounts allocated to research and innovation, education and SME development, as well as by the "Connecting Europe" facility to finance investments in infrastructure. It also welcomed the aims to direct the use of structural funds in the framework of cohesion policy to a limited number of priorities, including SMEs' competitiveness and innovation. Moreover, GRTU welcomed the general approach of the new "Horizon 2020" framework on R&D&I, but reserved its judgment on the funding aspects until the division of resources among its "pillars" and the specific volumes for SME support will be made public.

 The European Commission must be praised for presenting a balanced and realistic budget proposal, which manages to secure resources for many fundamental headers while keeping the overall spending footprint under control. The plans unveiled yesterday have the potential of really boosting crafts and SMEs` activities, at least on paper. Of course, much will then depend on how the various programmes are put into practice, but the closest and most important hurdle at the moment is that the budget is approved without changes and cuts.

We are particularly pleased with the Commission's plans to promote the competitiveness of SMEs. Calls to simplify rules, reduce participation costs and accelerate award procedures were clearly taken on board, and the creation of a dedicated programme with an increased budget envelope is a clear reason to rejoice. SMEs' competitiveness and innovation also feature prominently among the priorities for cohesion policy and structural funds.

The EU has on the 20^th of July launched its biggest ever funding package under FP7 through the publication of new FP7 calls for proposals. With about € 7 billion available for the 2012 calls, the EU forecasts that around 174 000 jobs will be created in the short-term and nearly 450 000 jobs and nearly €80 billion in GDP growth over the next 15 years.

EU funding for research is at the top of the political agenda and has now been placed at the centre of a coherent innovation strategy, the Innovation Union which Europe needs if it is to compete with large, dynamic countries like US and China.

Grants will promote research to tackle the biggest societal challenges facing Europe and the world, and create sustainable jobs and growth by giving Europe a lead in the key technology markers of the future. Universities, research organisations and industry will be the main funding recipients. Special attention will be given to SMEs, including a package close to €1 billion. There will also be a new EU Prize for Women Innovators whose work has been funded by FP7 or earlier programmes.

More support is also foreseen for activities that help bridge the gap between research and the market by demonstrating that new technologies have commercial potential.

The Malta Council for Science and Technology is the official National Contact Point (NCP) Organisation in Malta which provides information and assistance on FP7. "The Council has in the past year increased its capacity of National Contact Points, to better help local entities and individual researchers participating in these calls. NCPs offer individual support and assistance to local entities at all stages of the proposal life-cycle." said Council Chairman Hon Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, "Maltese entities have received over €9 million in funding from previous FP7 calls."  

The Participant Portal (http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal) has become the European Commission's single authoritative website for the publication of FP7 calls.

As part of its FP7 promotional activities, the Malta Council for Science and Technology will also be organising a number of information sessions in the coming days. For more information and assistance kindly contact the FP7 Unit within the Malta Council for Science and Technology at: or on 2360 2141 or visit the website http://www.mcst.gov.mt/events.aspx

GRTU was left overall satisfied by the proposal for a directive on energy efficiency unveiled by the European Commission. GRTU particularly appreciated the Commission's call on Member States to establish a favourable framework for technical assistance and targeted information on energy efficiency for SMEs, although this request should have been inserted in the legally binding part of the text rather than in the introductory remarks.

GRTU also welcomed the wording on energy audits for SMEs, which steers clear of imposing compulsory requirements while at the same time promoting awareness raising activities on possible energy savings. Moreover, the association praises the Commission's aims to facilitate SMEs access to the energy services market, to promote the use of small co-generation units and to foster the activities of small energy distributors and small retail energy sales companies. On the negative side, the text does not foresee the involvement of intermediary business organisations in the set up of SME-oriented measures at national level. Moreover, the impact assessment ac-companying the proposal lacks a dedicated ‘SME test', which should have been performed before proposing such an ambitious set of measures.

The target of 20 % primary energy savings by 2020 will not be met if the enormous potential of SMEs in this field remains untapped. Thankfully, the Commission seems to have realised this. Today's proposal could bring Europe very close to its energy efficiency aims if Member States follow suit on its recommendations. In particular, governments should ensure that a favourable framework is established to provide SMEs with technical assistance and targeted information on energy savings. However, this request should be moved from the introduction to the legal provisions of the directive. This would send a stronger political message to Member States and guarantee a concrete follow-up.

The text shows attention to the reality of SMEs also on other aspects. For instance, energy audits will not be compulsory for small and medium-sized companies, but Member States are invited to develop programmes to increase their up-take in SMEs by focusing on concrete examples of how energy management systems could help their business. This is the right approach. Moreover, the Commission plans to facilitate SMEs access to the energy services market and some-how makes the effort to promote some specific categories of SMEs, such as those managing small co-generation units and distributing or selling energy, to help them stay on the market and increase competition in these oligopolistic sectors.

The drawbacks of the proposal lie first of all in the text itself, which does not mention the important role of national SME organisations in working with Member States to set up the favourable framework for SMEs and the specific SME-friendly measures mentioned in the directive. Secondly, and even more importantly, it is quite surprising that the accompanying impact assessment shows that such an ambitious set of measures can be published without a specific ‘SME Test', seeing the impact that the directive will have on small producers, sellers and final users involved in energy efficiency.

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Euro-area citizens and residents have selected the winning design of a new euro coin that will be issued next January to commemorate 10 years of euro banknotes and coins. Close to 35 000 people voted in an online competition from a choice of five designs that had been pre-selected by a professional jury following a design competition among citizens from the whole euro area. The new commemorative 2-euro coin will be issued by all euro-area Member States. It is estimated that some 90 million of these coins will be put into circulation.

The winning design symbolises the way in which the euro has become a true global player in the last ten years and its importance in ordinary people's lives (represented by the people in the design), trade (the ship), industry (the factory) and energy (wind power stations).

The selection of the coin design

Citizens of all countries of the euro-area were invited to submit designs via a dedicated website during a three-week period in May. A professional jury selected five from among the more than 800 designs submitted.

These five were put to a public web vote among citizens and residents of the euro area between 6 and 24 June. Close to 35 000 participated in the vote. The winning design received 34 % of the votes.

The winning design was created by Mr Helmut Andexlinger who is a professional designer at the Austrian Mint.

Commemorative euro circulation coins

This is the third time that all euro-area countries will issue a euro coin with a common design on the national side. The first was the commemorative 2-euro coin issued to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome in 2007 and the second commemorated 10 years of Economic and Monetary union and the creation of the euro as book money, in 2009.

Commemorative coins always have a value of 2 euro and are put into circulation in the whole euro area, and they are often the subject of keen interest from coin collectors.

For more information on euro coins and the euro go to:

http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/euro/index_en.htm