Category: Archive – 2013

Eco
Save Ltd – BT
Commercial Malta – Bajada
New Energy – Solar
Solutions Ltd – CD
Power Solutions Co Ltd – International
Sales Direct – Alberta
Fire & Security Solar Division – Solar
Engineering Ltd – Wurth
Ltd – Renergy
Ltd – Panta
Marketing & Services Ltd – Di
Natura – Frank
Borda Ltd – Prime
Solar (Malta) Ltd

GRTU has written to Professor
Joe V. Bannister the chairman of MFSA regarding the numerous complaints by its
members that HSBC has decided to start imposing yet another charge on
businesses. This latest increase concerns the charge on internet banking which
all businesses having HSBC accounts have to succumb to.

This of high concern for
GRTU's members as internet banking is today not a luxury but a necessity in the
daily running of an enterprise, so introducing a fee on a daily necessity will
inevitably put up business running costs which many businesses are finding it
increasingly difficult to cope with already in such delicate times and when
everyone else is doing his utmost to improve our employment levels. It is not
acceptable that such a charge is introduced without prior consultation and an
analysis of what the impact will be.

This is exactly in line
with our argument against the excessive and even hidden charges made by banks
on enterprises and consumers as HSBC is once again hiding a charge behind
increased services, services that are once again not optional and most of them
not requested. HSBC by all means can and should increase its services but
enterprises that are happy with the current necessary basic service and do not
want to add any additional unnecessary costs should be allowed to have a
choice. HSBC has already reduced the number of branches drastically to
encourage clients to utilize internet banking so now the possibilities to go
back to using the branches has been reduced.

The bank enjoys a
dominant position and such initiatives should be regulated. GRTU has asked that
MFSA takes the issue seriously and that GRTU is given an early opportunity to
discuss the matter as our members merit a reply for the concerns expressed.

Eco Save – BT Commercial Malta – Bajada New Energy – Solar Solutions Ltd – CD Power Solutions Co Ltd – International Sales Direct – Alberta Fire & Security Solar Division

The EU acts in
a wide range of policy areas where its action is beneficial to the Member
States. The Union funds these policies through an annual budget which enables
it to complement and add value to action taken by national Governments.

The European Union's activities impact on the day-to-day life of
its citizens by addressing the real challenges facing society:

Innovation Policies

1.   Environment and sustainable developments:

      In terms of environment and
sustainable development, the EU aims to help prevent climate change by
seriously reducing its greenhouse gas emission. The EU has a target to cut
emissions by 20% compared to 1990 levels, raise energy share of the market to
20% and cut energy consumption by 20%. The EU also managed to convince other major
super powers to work in the same direction.

      The EU is also tackling a wide
range of other environmental issues including noise, waste, exhaust gases,
chemicals, industrial accidents and the cleanliness of bathing water.

2.   Technological Innovation

      The EU rightly saw that Europe's
future prosperity would depend on its ability to remain a world leader in
technology. The EU's goal is to spend 3% of its GDP on research, mostly spent
in areas like health, food and agriculture, ICT, energy, environment, transport,
security, etc.

Solidarity polices

The EU's solidarity polices are designed to help underdeveloped
regions and troubled sectors of the economy, to mitigate market imbalances.
European Union funds are used to boost development in regions lagging behind,
to rejuvenate industrial areas in decline and to help young people to find
work. The funds are known as "Structural Funds", which top up or stimulate
investments by the private sector and by national and regional governments.

Common Agricultural and Fisheries
Policies

From 2013 onwards the European Commission wants the CAP to give
priority to making European agriculture sustainable, giving farmers sufficient
protection from volatile markets, preserving biodiversity and protecting local
and regional speciality products.

The EU has also begun reforming its fisheries policy. The main
aim here is to preserve stocks of fish (such as the endangered blufin tuna) and
to reduce the overcapacity of fishing fleets while providing financial
assistance for people who leave the fishing industry.

The social dimension

The aim of the EU'social policy is to correct the most glaring
inequalities in European society. The European Social Fund (ESF) was
established in 1961 to promote job creation and help workers move from one type
of work andor one geographical area to another.

This goes hand in hand with legislation that guarantees a solid
set of minimum rights. Some of these rights are enshrined in the Treaties, eg
the rights of women and men to equal pay and equal work. Others in directives
concerning the protection of workers and essential safety standards. The
Charter of Basic Social Rights sets out the rights that all workers in the EU
should enjoy: free movement; fair pay; improved working conditions, social
protection, protection for children etc.

Who does what?

There are some areas which are of the sole competence of the EU
such as a customs union and the monetary policy for countries using the euro,
other areas of sole competence of the Member States such as tourism, civil
protection and education, and others areas where the competences are shared,
these include: the single market, social policy, environment, consumer
protection and energy amongst others.

      21 228 843

GRTU, Exchange Building,
Republic Street, Valletta

More than 1600
exchanges have so far been organised under the Erasmus for Young entrepreneurs
programme and some 3200 businesses have been created or expanded (including
numerous joint ventures and new cross border relations, see MEMO/13/412). Since
2009, funded by the European Commission, Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs
enables new entrepreneurs –

The current
phase of the LIFE programme, LIFE+, comes to an end in 2013. Calls for
applications are open till 25 June 2013. Project
proposals have to be eligible for one of the programme's three strands: LIFE+
Nature and Biodiversity, LIFE+ Environment Policy and Governance, and LIFE+
Information and Communication.

More information can be obtained from
http://www.lifeplus.gov.mt or by contacting
MEUSAC on

The national contact point for this
programme is the Tourism and Sustainable Development Unit.

The Xlokk
Action Group Foundation (XAGF) announces the launch of a call for applications
for Action 413.A2: Capital Investment to Support Artisanal Agricultural
Activity under Axis 4 (LEADER).

Applications
and guidance notes may be downloaded from www.galxlokk.com.
More
information may be obtained by email ()
or phone
(20998008)

Commission acts to make bank accounts cheaper, more transparent and
accessible to all European
citizens cannot fully participate in society without a basic bank account. Bank
accounts have become an essential part of our everyday life, allowing us to
make and receive payments, shop online, and pay utility bills (telephone, gas,
electricity).

The commerce
sector is greatly encouraged by the proposal for a directive on citizens'
payment accounts which was published by the Commission. "We see this as the
first step towards the universal provision of a low-cost electronic payment
system available to all EU citizens," said EuroCommerce Director-General,
Christian Verschueren.

Commerce
urges the Commission to take the same political line in its upcoming proposals
on the revision of the Payment Services Directive (PSD) and on a regulation on
interchange fees. Strong legislative measures are needed to allow market
participants to create competitive and innovative payment models.

Europe
needs to establish a strong e-commerce and e-payments market, both domestic and
cross-border, which is easily accessible by Europe's consumers and businesses,
especially SMEs. One of the pre-requisites for this is the availability of
secure, simple and low-cost electronic payment methods, using harmonised
standards under the framework of SEPA. To achieve this, the forthcoming
legislation must tackle two issues:

The PSD must be revised to allow new providers to enter the
market and offer payment services. The competition thus created would open up
the market to innovative payment models and result in price reductions. The
retail sector also believes that a switch from card-based electronic payments
to those which use simple credit transfer models would be more secure and
would, therefore, go a long way to tackling the problems of fraud associated
with card payments over the internet.

The interchange fee: the single greatest barrier to new payment
models and to the growth of retail and e-commerce is the current interchange
fee system. We call on the Commission to issue a strong regulation to remedy
this problem. Removing the interchange barrier is a fundamental step towards
establishing a modern Europe-wide electronic payments market, which provides
real financial inclusion and makes full use of the new technologies and payment
options.