Author: SME Chamber

The Commission
is seeking views on possible improvements of the EU Merger Regulation contained
in the White Paper "towards more effective merger control". The
proposals in particular include:

A light and tailor-made review of those
acquisitions of non-controlling minority shareholdings which could harm
competition. Companies can
acquire minority stakes in for example competitors and thereby influence their
behaviour and reduce competition in the market. The EU's merger rules currently
do not allow the Commission to examine these effects, while the rules of some
Member States allow national authorities to do so, as well as rules prevailing
in other major jurisdictions like the US or Japan. The envisaged reform would
ensure that the Commission can examine those transactions which may raise
competition concerns and have a cross-border impact within the EU. This would
ensure that all sources of harm to competition are covered and establish a
one-stop shop for these transactions. It would also not create a significant
extra regulatory burden for businesses, since only transactions that appear to
be problematic from a competition point of view would face review. Benign
investments and restructuring efforts would not be covered.

Making case referrals between Member States
and the Commission more business-friendly and effective. Under the proposals, the companies who notify a
merger could more easily refer a case to the Commission through a simpler
procedure. In addition, the rules for Member State requests to have a case
reviewed by the Commission would become more streamlined, to avoid parallel
investigations and better implement the one-stop shop principle. The new
procedure would also allow Member States to better cooperate amongst themselves
when they are not referring a case to the Commission.

Making procedures simpler. This can be achieved for example by excluding
certain non-problematic transactions from the scope of the Commission's merger
review, such as the creation of joint ventures that will operate outside the
European Economic Area (EEA) and have no impact on European markets.
Notification requirements for other non-problematic cases – currently dealt
with in a 'simplified' procedure – could be further reduced, cutting costs and
administrative burden for businesses.

Fostering coherence and convergence. The
White Paper takes stock of the use of current EU merger control rules and
proposes to reflect on ways to foster convergence between Member States with a
view to enhance cooperation and to avoid divergent decisions in parallel merger
reviews conducted by the competition authorities of several Member States.

For further information and to submit
your contribution, visit:

http://ec.europa.eu/competition/consultations/2014_merger_control/index_en.html

The aim of this
public consultation is to seek feedback on the achievements, shortcomings and
future challenges of the Commission's activities on Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR), as outlined in the Commission's 2011 Communication on "A
renewed EU strategy 2011-14 for Corporate Social Responsibility" (COM(2011) 681
).

The
results of this public consultation will be summarised in a technical report
and further inform the preparation of the plenary meeting of the
multi-stakeholder forum on CSR, which is planned for November 2014. These two
events will provide the most essential input for the Commission's work on the
direction of its CSR policy after 2014.

This
consultation must be submitted by 15.08.2014.

Further information and a link for
submission can be found at:

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sustainable-business/corporate-social-responsibility/public-consultation/index_en.htm

GRTU welcomes Mr. Paul Bugeja as the
new CEO of MTA.  Mr. Bugeja brings with
him a wealth of experience in the tourism industry following decades of work in
this field in the private sector, which will be hugely beneficial to the
various tourism related sections that the GRTU represents.

The GRTU augurs him every success in
his new role and is confident that the relations between GRTU and MTA will
continue to thrive in a positive direction.

Mr. Bugeja has moreover proven himself
recently whilst briefly holding the post of President of the MHRA.

GRTU would like to thank Mr. Josef
Formosa Gauci, the outgoing CEO at MTA for his dedication and contribution
towards the tourism industry during his tenure as CEO of MTA.  

GRTU Deputy
President Philip Fenech  attended a public dialogue with civil society
on Malta's 10th anniversary of European Union membership.

During
this session Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said that more than €200 million was
spent on online shopping last year highlighting the need for Maltese businesses
to become more consumer-centric.

He said
that although the country's finances were on the right track and employment was
on the increase, retail trade was down. This was because, as statistics for
2013 on online trade showed, people were buying their goods online.

"This
trade is underestimated in national statistics. It is an illusion to introduce
some form of tax on this apart from being illegal. But this shows how the time
of middlemen is over. Nowadays people are doing things themselves. Local
businesses have to go for a customer-centred approach, offering a better
after-sales service," he said.

Philip
Fenech on this regard was pleased that Dr Muscat sympathised with the problem
caused by online trading. He also expressed that the problem with the retail
trade is that these business owners are engulfed within their business which
has caused them not to observe the big shift to e-commerce. It is essential
that discussions at a national level are organised to assist this sector to
reposition the way business is executed. 

Mr
Fenech also mentioned that before the MEP election, GRTU appealed to the MEP
candidates that it is important that MEPs get in contact with the organisation
to discuss issues that are affecting SMEs. Since then Mr Fenech was pleased to
announce that MEPs from both sides of the political parties have met with GRTU.

Messagg min President Marie Louise
Coleiro Preca – Irrid nagħtikom ħajr min qalbi tas-sens ta' impenn, bħala tmexxija tal-GRTU Malta Chamber of Small
& Medium Enterprises Association of General Retailers & Traders, li għandkom biex tgħinu lil Malta
Community Chest Fund.

Dan huwa
l-uniku fond nazzjonali li qiegħed jassisti lil dawk fostna li sfortunatament jinħakmu mill-marda
qerrieda tal-kanċer jew mard kroniku serju. Nistqarr magħkom li l-fond
qisu bir bla qiegħ. Dan
il-fatt jinkwetani, għaliex
nemmen li nisgħtu nassistu
aktar, izda minħabba l-ammonti
li qed jigu quddiemna, u wkoll minħabba ristrizzjonijiet li l-fond għandu, jinħtieg li naħdmu aktar biex
insaħħu
l-kontribuzzjonijiet għal dan
il-għan.

Għaldaqstant, qed
nitlob lil kulħadd biex
fil-kuntest ta' xogħlu u ċ-
ċirkostanzi tiegħu jew tagħha, tgħinu lil dawn
il-mijiet ta' familji Maltin u individwi inkluzi tfal, li ta' kull sena
tmisshom din ix-xorti ħazina.

Konvinta
mill-qalb generuza tagħkom u
konvinta aktar u aktar mill-valur qawwi tal-imħabba li ghandkom lejn għajrhom. Ghalhekk
nappella għall-għajnuna tagħkom.

Nispera li inti u l-familja tieghek tinsabu tajbin. Inti u
taqra dan il-messagg flimkien ma' dak li ppreparat il-President ta' Malta,
l-Eccellenza taghha s-Sunjura Marie Louise Coleiro Preca nixtieqek tahseb ftit
f'dawk li bhalissa ghaddejjin min zmien hazin.

Mhux soltu tieghi li nitlob ghall-ghajnuna taghkom f'dan
il-kuntest il-ghaliex ma ghandiex dubju li l-generozita' taghkom hija kbira
hafna. Bhal ma tafu d-domanda ghal ghajnuna qieghda dejjem tikber specjalment meta tfegg kiesah
u biered l-marda tal-kancer u mard iehor kroniku. Tafu ukoll bil-konsegwenzi li
dan l-mard igib mieghu fuq l-familji milquta. Ma ghandi l-ebda dubju li b'xi
mod jew iehor sejrin tghinu sabiex dawn il-familji jigu mghejjuna bl-ahjar mod
possibbli

Il-GRTU ser tghin lill-Community Chest Fund billi titolbok
tikkontribbwixxi dak li tista sabiex flimkien ma' haddiehor ittaffi hafna mill-ispejjez li dawn
l-familji ghandhom bzonn. Dak li taghtu intom illum, isibuh  dawk li
ghandhom bzonnu ghada.

Sustainable Transnational Tourism Products 2014 – A call for application has been opened for projects on the
topic of "Diversifying the EU Tourism Offer and Products –
Sustainable Transnational Tourism Products 2014". This is a call
issued and managed directly from Brussels and is one of the very few calls in
support of tourism.

Proposals should be presented by consortia of minimum 5 legal
entities, covering at least 4 EU Member States. 
These proposals must aim at promoting sustainable transnational tourism
products in sport or wellness activities in relation to one of the following
types of tourism: coastal or maritime or mountain or rural tourism.

The projects
should support the following aspects:

One of the
objectives of this call is to support projects that encourage the participation
of SMEs and create a framework favourable to SMEs' cooperation.

Tourism SMEs on
their own are also eligible to participate, provided that they are operating in
the following fields:

In fact, the
project consortium should include at least 2 such SMEs.

The EU budget
of the call is EUR 1,000,000 and there are 5 projects expected to be funded
(max. EUR 250,000 per project, at a 75% co-financing rate from EU).

The
deadline for this proposal is 7th October 2014

During
the ICT Proposers' Day 2014, the session "Put innovation at the core of
your proposal" will be addressing the explicit references to innovation
across all three H2020 evaluation criteria, while also underlining the
importance of the "Expected Impacts statements" in the Work
Programme.

ICT
Proposers' Day 2014 it is an event organised by the European Commission,
specifically dedicated to networking and promoting research and innovation in
the field of Information and Communication Technologies. The event will focus
on networking in preparation for next year's forthcoming calls under the
Horizon 2020 Work Programme 2015.

The
event, which is free of charge, offers an exceptional occasion to build quality
partnerships through, face to face meetings, as it will connect academia,
research institutes, industrial stakeholders, SMEs and government actors from
all over Europe. The registration to attend the event is now open. http://bit.ly/1ynj0K2

Further useful information:

Networking at
ICT Proposers' Day 2014: http://bit.ly/1rS04g7

ICT Innovation in Horizon 2020:http://bit.ly/1lZCl0X

Following the
successful Mission for Green Growth to China of Vice-President Antonio Tajani
and Commissioner Potočnik in July 2013, Director-General of Enterprise and
Industry DG Daniel Calleja will lead a technical Mission for Growth to Chengdu
in October this year.

The aim
of the Mission is to meet with high level political representatives, key
industry leaders, and local entrepreneurs to confirm the strong political
relationship between the EU and China and to strengthen our co-operation in
strategic fields.

Director-General
Mr. Daniel Calleja Crespo will be accompanied by a delegation of
representatives of business associations and entrepreneurs to discuss with
Chinese politicians and entrepreneurs how to foster European industrial
cooperation. This visit will also have the objectives to:

The following
sectors of the business delegation have been identified according to the
specific interests of European and Chinese industries:

The Mission
will take place in conjunction with the EU-China
Business and Technology Cooperation Fair, one of the largest international platforms for
investment, trade and technology cooperation in the region. In fact the fair is
expected to gather 800 to 1000 representatives of SMEs, clusters, business
associations, R&D institutions and government bodies.  The EU-China
Business & Technology Cooperation Fair is organized by the EU Project
Innovation Centre (EUPIC), member of the Enterprise Europe Network responsible
for West China.  Further info on the fair available on event website: www.eu-china.org.cn

To register for
the Mission for Growth to China, visit the event website:

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/initiatives/mission-growth/missions-for-growth/daniel-calleja/asia/china/index_en.htm

To register for the B2B matchmaking event, visit: https://www.b2match.eu/ninth-eu-china-cooperation-fair

Although the
safety of tourism accommodation services is the competence of Member States,
the presence of a strong cross-border dimension in this type of service
suggests a reflection on their quality and safety levels across Member States.

Consumers should indeed expect to be able to purchase tourism accommodation
services with confidence for their own safety regardless of their choice of
accommodation or destination within the EU.

The objective
of this consultation is to gather input and quantifiable evidence from all
relevant parties with an aim to evaluate fundamental aspects related to tourism
accommodation safety: whether the existing instruments and their implementation
throughout the EU are adequate and sufficient by measuring the nature and
extent of the safety risks and their potential link to flaws or gaps in the
current legislative framework, and to what extent they have an impact on the
provision of such services across borders as well as on SMEs and vulnerable
consumers, in order to make a clear distinction of what objectives are best met
at which level.

For further information on
this consultation, kindly visit:

 http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/health_consumer/dgs_consultations/ca/consultation_20141130_tourism_en.htm

The consultation is open till 30th November 2014.