Category: Archive – 2012

Post Crisis policy measures in the financial sector give way to longer-term growth goals Commission report finds – Resilience in the financial sector has improved in the aftermath of the financial crisis, and action is now focusing on longer-term growth goals, although vulnerabilities remain, according to an annual European Commission report on financial integration and stability.

The European Financial Stability and Integration Report (EFSIR) will be presented at today's joint conference with the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt. The event brings together policymakers, financial market leaders and academics for discussion on financial stability and integration in Europe.

"We all know that 2011 was a difficult year for Europe," said Internal Market and Services Commissioner Michel Barnier, a keynote speaker at the event. "The report's careful analysis of past and current challenges is a solid basis for continuing our reform programme and shaping future policies. The reforms we are introducing are essential to restore financial stability and to pave the way for a more resilient and integrated European market in financial services. In turn, this is the essential basis to allow for long-term growth to return in Europe."

Background

This year's report:

• 1. presents a comprehensive account of the main market trends and developments in 2011 that had a direct impact on financial stability and integration;
• 2. sets out the major policy steps taken in 2011 to redress the crisis situation and provide the foundations for more stable and sustained growth;
• 3. provides an overview of broad trends in the evolution of the structure of the EU banking sector;
• 4. gives an assessment of the impact of the crisis and regulation on the insurance sector; and
• 5. considers how household sector financial wealth and household borrowing evolved in the crisis.

More information:

Read the European Financial integration and stability report:

http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/economic_analysis/financial_integration_reports_en.htm

 

In December, Eurydice officially launched Eurypedia – the European Encyclopedia on National Education Systems. Eurypedia is a new, online resource for understanding education systems in Europe and learning about recent reforms.

 

Aiming at providing the most accurate picture of the education system organization in Europe, Eurypedia  contains more than 5000 articles and covers 38 school and university systems within the 33 countries participating in the EU's Lifelong Learning Programme (all 27 EU Member States as well as Croatia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey). Eurypedia is a wiki-based tool and its articles are drafted and published directly by the Eurydice National Units, in collaboration with their respective education Ministries and/or national experts.

All Eurypedia content is available in English and, where applicable, in the language of the country. Information in Eurypedia is conveniently organized by topic and country and can be used to either learn about aspects of one particular education system or to compare topics between countries.

Eurypedia is available online at:

http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurypedia

In all sectors, whether these sectors are covered by a Wages Council Wage Regulation Order or not, the employer may introduce schemes to bank hours, whereby up to three hundred and seventy-six hours of the normal annual working hours in each calendar year may be banked, thus allowing extra hours over and above the normal weekly working hours to be worked during periods of higher work activity which would be redeemed during periods of lower activity by having working hours below the normal weekly working hours.

 

Provided that the average weekly working time, including overtime, shall not exceed an average of forty-eight hours over the applicable reference period in terms of the Organization of Working Time Regulations 2003, unless the employee concerned has given his consent in writing to work more than a weekly average of forty-eight hours.

LN 46 of 2012 permits the employer to introduce schemes to bank hours, whereby up to 376 hours of the normal annual working hours in each calendar year may be banked, thus allowing extra hours over and above the normal weekly working hours to be worked during periods of higher work activity which would be redeemed during periods of lower activity by having working hours below the normal weekly working hours. Provided that the average weekly working time, including overtime, shall not exceed an average of 48 hours over the applicable reference period as stipulated by the Organization of Working Time Regulations 2003, unless the employee concerned has given his consent in writing to work more than a weekly average of forty-eight hours.

Only those hours on any day in a week which attract the normal hourly rate of payment can be banked. Similarly, any hours of work which have been banked in order to be utilized during weeks of lower work activity shall only be so utilized on a weekly day of work where the hours of work are paid at a normal rate.

The legal notice provides a number of safeguards to prevent abuse and also deals with the relationship of entitlements such as leave with banking hours. This information was provided by the Department of Industrial Relations.

Why did you become an entrepreneur? At first I was employed by a local firm and as time went by I ended up being a shareholder. At a later stage I decided to open up my own business and started everything from scretch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How have you come to choose your line of business?

About 40 years ago I received some correspondence from a foreign company producing household goods and since this company was not represented in Malta I decided to start importing these products.

Where did you go on your last holiday?

South of Germany – The breath taking views of the Alps and country Side.

What is your earliest memory?

When we used to use the paraffin lamps.

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

Michael Buble – For his style of music !

In March 2012 compared with February 2012, the volume of retail trade rose by 0.3% in the euro area (EA17) and by 0.7% in the EU27. In February retail trade fell by 0.2% and 0.5% respectively. In March 2012, compared with March 2011, the retail sales index dropped by 0.2% in the euro area, but grew by 1.0% in the EU27.

 

Monthly comparison – In March 2012, compared with February 2012, "Food, drinks and tobacco" remained stable in both the euro area and the EU27. The non food sector increased by 0.1% and 0.6% respectively. Among the Member States for which data are available, total retail trade rose in ten, fell in nine and remained stable in Ireland and Sweden. The highest increases were observed in Bulgaria (+3.9%), Poland (+2.6%), Austria and the United Kingdom (both +1.9%), and the largest decreases in Portugal (-2.2%), Estonia (-2.0%) and Slovenia (-1.4%).

Annual comparison

In March 2012, compared with March 2011, "Food, drinks and tobacco" fell by 0.3% in the euro area and remained stable in the EU27. The non food sector rose by 0.3% and 2.2% respectively. Among the Member States for which data are available, total retail trade rose in fifteen and fell in six. The highest increases were observed in Latvia (+10.0%), Estonia (+9.3%) and Luxembourg (+7.2%), and the largest decreases in Portugal (-5.0%), Spain (-3.9%) and Malta (-2.7%).

Diskors tal-President tal-GRTU – Malta Chamber of SMEs  -Fl-okkażjoni tat-Tnedija tal- Istandards tax-Xogħol fis-Settur tal-Motor Damage li giet organizzata flimkien mall-Kunsill Malti ghall-Kwalifiki u l-Malta Chamber of Motor Assessors illum 4 ta' Mejju 2012. Ghall-okkazzjoni attendiet l-Onorevoli Dolores Cristina – Ministru tal-Edukazzjoni u x-Xoghol

 

Paul Abela qal li ghanijiet primarji tal-imprenditur huma li jkabbar u jikseb aktar valur ghall-intrapriza tieghu. F'dinja li titmexxa mit-teknologija fejn l-ambjent ta` madwarna u r-regoli li nghixu fihom jinbidlu kontinwament, hu diffiċilissimu, b'mod speċjali għall- intraprża żgħira, żżomm aġġornata mal-avvenimenti mportanti kollha li jkunu qed jiġru. Għal imprenditur li ma jiflaħx iħallas paga oħra u li ma jistax jeħodha fuq dahru wkoll bl-impenji aktar importanti tal-intrapriza tieghuli jżomm aġġornat hi ġlieda li kważi jitlef kuljum.

Il-GRTU hi leħen l-intrapriża privata u tradizzjonalment tirrapreżenta , u tipproteġi l-interessi tal-imprenditur. Ahna nifhmu dak li ftit jifhmu, li xogħol l-imprenditur hu xogħol diffiċilissimu, ta` tensjoni għall-persuna u xogħol li wieħed għandu jammira. L-intrapriża żżomm l-ekonomija għaddejja u tħaddem bosta membri mill-familji tagħna.

Bdejna minn numru żgħir ta` negozjanti li ngħaqdu biex iwaqqfu l-inġustizzji li kienu qegħdin isiru għaliex fehmu li kien ħaqqhom trattament aħjar. Illum aħna organizzazjoni nazzjonali, membru tal-għola istituzzjoni konsultattiva u prezenti kemm fuq livell nazzjonali kif ukoll dak Ewropew.

Il-GRTU hi organizzata fuq skala Nazzjonali, Settorjali, kif ukoll ta` Kunsilli Lokali. Fuq livell Nazzjonali l-GRTU tiġbor l-opinjonijiet tas-sidien tan-negozji żgħar u medji u s-self employed minn kull qasam ta` negozju u tressaqhom lill-awtoritajiet fil-proċess ta` konsultazzjoni li ma jispiċċa qatt. Fuq livell Settorjali l-GRTU tiġbor ukoll lis-sidien tan-negozji, qasam b'qasam, u dawn fl-mkien janaliżżaw il-proposti u l-miżuri, proposti mill-awtoritajiet, l-istituzzjonijiet jew l-imsieħba speċjaliżżati, u b'hekk jgħaddu l-kummenti tagħhom u jitgħalmu jaddottaw dak li jkun qed jinbidel. Fuq livell ta` kunsilli lokali l-GRTU żżomm kuntatt kontinwu mas-sindki u l-kunsilliera kollha għaliex hi l-unika organiżżazjoni li tirrapreżenta lis-sidien kollha ta` Malta u Għawdex fil-lokalita` individwali tagħhom. Huma ħafna d-deċiżjonijiet li jittieħdu fil-lokalita li jaffetwaw lis-sidien.

Bħala forza pubblika l-GRTU taħdem favur it-tkabbir tal-ekonomija lokali u s-sostenibbilita tal-lokalitajiet. Taħdem ukoll fuq livell Ewropew bis-saħħa tar-rappreżentanza attiva f'organiżazzjonijiet Ewropej li jirraprezentaw l-oganiżazzjonijiet nazzjonali bhal EuroCommerce li titkellem f'isem sidien tal-ħwienet, wholesalers u kummerċ internazzjonali u UEAPME li titkellem f'isem entrapriżi żgħar u medji. Il-GRTU hi wkoll irreġistrata bhala Employers Association u għandha rappreżentanza diretta f'isem is-sidien tan-negozji zgħar u medji Maltin fl-European Economic and Social Committee. 

Il-GRTU mhux biss hi grupp ta` pressjoni iżda hi l-one stop shop u l-aħjar business partner ta` l-imprenditur. Izzomm l-intrapriżi aġġornati b'kull avveniment importanti li għandhom ikunu jafu bih, nikkonsultawhom fuq tibdil ta`liġijiet ġejjin mil-lokal u mill-Unjoni Ewropeja, nieħdu hsib in-negozju tagħhom fil-lokalita bir-relazzjonijiet tajba li għandna mal-kunsilli lokali, noffru servizz ta` parir legali u nżommu l-membri tagħna aġġornati fejn jidħlu fondi.

Il-GRTU tirrapreżenta l-akbar ammont ta` intrapriżi u għal daqs tant hi l-akbar organiżżazjoni rappresentattiva ta` dan is-settur. Kien għal raġunijiet li semmejt li l-GRTU ddeċidiet li taħdem flimkien mal-Kunsill Malti għall-Kwalifiki u l-Malta Chamber of Motor Assessors sabiex jiġu żviluppati standards tax-xogħol f'dan is-settur.  U dan għaliex, il-GRTU temmen illi l-istandards tax-Xogħol għandhom valur kbir u utili fl-industrija. Jistgħu, nghidu ahna, jintużaw bħala kriterji għar-reklutaġġ ta' individwi, għad-disinn u l-evalwazzjoni t'impjiegi, għall-analiżi tal-ħtiġijiet ta ' taħriġ, ghat-tfassil ta' programmi ta' tagħlim u għall-evalwazzjonijiet tar-rendiment kontinwu. L-istandards jipprovdu punt ta' referenza essenzjali għall-individwi li jaspiraw fil-progressjoni tal-karriera tagħhom.

L-istandards tax-xogħol jassistu lil min iħaddem f'firxa ta' attivitajiet fuq il-post tax-xogħol, fosthom ippjanar aħjar.  Fil-fatt l-istandards tax-xogħol jistgħu jintużaw għall-iżviluppar ta' taħriġ u pjannijiet għar-reklutaġ ta' ħaddiema prospettivi, għall-identifikar ta' lakuni fil-kompetenzi tal-ħaddiema u anke għall-bażi tad-deskrizzjoni tal-impjiegi.

Sabiex jiġu implimentati dawn l-istandards tax-xogħol, hemm bżonn li kull industrija jkollha rappreżentanza f'għaqdiet ta' ħiliet settorjali li għandhom jiġu stabbiliti mill-Gvern biex jindirizzaw xi nuqqasijiet fil-ħiliet tal-ħaddiema fi ħdan l-Industrija. Ix-xogħol ta' dawn l-għaqdiet ta' ħiliet settorjali huwa li jirrappreżentaw l-interessi kemm ta' min iħaddem u dan sabiex min iħaddem ikollu vuċi fit-tfassil ta' korsijiet fis-sistema edukattiva, kif ukoll tal-gvern u dan għas-sosteniment ta' dawn l-għaqdiet ta' ħiliet settorjali.

L-użu tal-istandards tax-xogħol, bħala munita komuni bejn is-sistemi differenti ta' edukazzjoni, jgħinu sabiex jitneħħew l-ostakli bla bżonn għall-individwi li juru

ix-xewqa li jidħlu fis-sistema edukattiva formali u wkoll jagħti lok għall-aktar trasparenza lill-individwi li jkunu jridu jipprogressaw fil- karriera tagħhom fi ħdan l-industrija. Fi kliem ieħor, l-istandards tax-xogħol jipprovdu munita komuni għal sistema li tippermetti:

mogħdijiet aktar ċara bejn is-sistemi ta progressjoni akkademiċi, vokazzjonali u professjonali;u

individwi li jiksbu l-kwalifiki meħtieġa sabiex jaħdmu fl-industrija.

L-individwi jitgħallmu f'kuntesti u forom differenti u għalhekk l-istandards tax-xogħol għandhom potenzjal li jkunu għodda li tgħin fir-rikonoxximent, fil-valutazzjoni u fiċ-ċertifikazzjoni tal-kompetenzi tal-individwi li jiġu assessjati skont il-kriterji stabbilitif'dawn l-istandards tax-xogħol.   Barra minn hekk, ħaddiema jistgħu jużaw dawn l-istandards tax-xogħol bħala għodda biex jagħmlu awto-evalwazzjoni tal-kompetenzi tagħhom. Bħala GRTU, aħna nemmnu illi kemm min iħaddem kif ukoll l-impjegat għandu jiġi nkoraġġut sabiex itejjeb il-karriera tiegħu billi kontinwament jikseb għerf u ħiliet li jistgħu jgħinuh fuq il-post tax-xogħol tiegħu.  U għalhekk kif ġa semmejt nemmen li dawn l-istandards ser ikunu mezz fejn min iħaddem u l-impjegat kemm dak li ġa qiegħed fuq il-post tax-xogħol kif ukoll dak li jixtieq jaħdem fis-settur speċifiku, ser ikollhom ippreżentati lilhom kriterji li jridu jilħqu sabiex jissejħu kompetenti f'dak ix-xogħol speċifiku.

Il-GRTU fehmet dan kollu u għalhekk b'impenn iddeċidiet illi taħdem flimkien ma' setturi differenti sabiex tgħinhom jiżviluppaw standards tax-xogħol illi jkunu ta' benefiċċju kemm għal min iħaddem kif ukoll għall-impjegati. 

Fl-aħħarnett, nemmen li din mhix ser tkun l-unika darba li ser naħdmu mal-Kunsill Malti għall-Kwalifiki u nawgura li kif ħdimna mas-settur tal-Motor Damage Assessment, naħdmu ma' setturi oħra sabiex ikollna industrji b'nies kompetenti u kompettittivi fil-qasam tax-xogħol tagħhom.

GRTU National Executive Council met the Prime Minister to discuss important pending issues that the GRTU has been striving to solve for quite some time but no solution with the authorities has been reached till now.
GRTU told the Prime Minister that for the last 60 years GRTU was very instrumental for self-employed and SMEs but the list of issues GRTU has pending with Government Authorities is too long. GRTU members can no longer bear being left pending and waiting to receive an answer they have been waiting for months if not years.

Accompanying the Prime Minister was Dr Simon Busuttil who spoke highly of the work done by GRTU and spoke about Government's initiative of meeting people, including people in business. The Prime Minister continued by thanking the GRTU for the several important proposals put forward along the years and for every year's Budget, from which Government issues schemes according to the GRTU suggestions as to what are the needs of SMEs. The Prime Minister also condemned the attacks on GRTU's Director General Vincent Farrugia and the GRTU and stated that respect should be    given to individuals and  organisations working for the betterment of our country.

Small Business Act

GRTU explained that according to the Small Business Act no Legal Notice having some kind of impact on the private sector had to be issued without an Impact Assessment. So far GRTU has never been presented with an impact assessment and as such no Legal Notices effecting business had to be issued, this is not however the case.

The Prime Minister informed the GRTU that Hon Jason Azzopardi will be discussing the issue with GRTU during a meeting that will take place in the coming days.

Right of Representation

GRTU explained the unjust decision taken by the Commission for Fair Competition where it was decided that GRTU cannot represent its members on issues that effect prices of goods and services. GRTU argued strongly this is a right most of our members depend on and therefore both the GRTU members and GRTU itself cannot be denied the right of representation.

The Prime Minster asked the GRTU to present an official case. This was done by the GRTU and currently Government officials are following up on the issue.

Rent Reform

GRTU explained this is a long standing issue both the GRTU and even more so its members are very hurt by. It is an important law that brought about drastic charges without any kind of consultation or modifications following strong representations by GRTU and its members. GRTU was never against the reform but this reform was very unjust on enterprise. GRTU once again presented its strong cases.

The Prime Minister once again told the GRTU he understood the points raised but he also understood the cases presented by the landlord. The Prime Minister was once again non committal on any of the aspects presented.

Cargo Hauliers

GRTU informed the Prime Minister that operators were very unhappy with the administration practiced by the Valletta Gateway Terminal (VGT) as they are encountering significant obstacles when trying to carry out their work.

The Prime Minister stated he did see the correspondence presented by the GRTU and thinks it is an issue of mismanagement on the side of VGT. The Prime Minister did however state that he would look into the matter and asked Dr Simon Busuttil to check if VGT is breaching the laws of concession.

Gas Distributors

GRTU explained how a Legal Notice changed the life for 31 distributors and how the situation was made worse with the involvement of the two companies. GRTU argued that either the distributors were kept to the districts or compensation would be given.

The Prime Minister said he is exploring a potential solution.

GRTU will be shortly reporting on further issues discussed with the Prime Minister and followed up.

Interested in doing business in Libya ? GRTU is helping it members in their interest in Libya and if you are interested we can help you ! Interested enterprises can contact the GRTU Internationalisation Desk Ms Abigail Mamo on 21 232 881

The Castelfranco Charter provides a roadmap to adopting cloud technology to achieve cost efficiency and profits. Small businesses and local authorities' adoption of cloud services could provide a big boost to the economy and the Castelfranco Charter could help speed up the transition.

Cloud computing is the new revolution in information and communication technology. It's something we are already familiar with: emails and social networks are all services provided using the cloud.

But the new idea associated with cloud computing is to bring the same concept to business, and shift data and basic applications to the cloud. This could generate huge savings and more efficiency in large areas of the public and private sector, especially in services and manufacturing. Case studies suggest that cost savings could be between 10% and 50%.

A brilliant idea has emerged from a small but dynamic Italian local public authority, the Asolo Ulss, near Venice. This public health company has produced a charter, the so-called Castelfranco Charter (from the place where it started last October), which provides a set of recommendations to help public authorities to adopt cloud computing. The idea, recently launched in an international conference tour, is simple but useful to promote cloud computing adoption, and could also apply to private companies willing to take it up. The recommendations are:

Operate on a redundant broadband network, for the connection between the company, the customers and the service providers.

Ensure "private cloud" usability as a preliminary step before agreeing to switch to a "public cloud".

Establish a roadmap to move systems into cloud computing under sustainable economic, management and security conditions.

Ensure storage of data in datacenters located in a EU country guaranteeing compliance with laws and regulations.

Request providers to guarantee interoperability and data portability in the event of transfer to another provider.

Request providers to guarantee permanent operative continuity of the systems in cloud.

Specify the vendor's management policy for data storage/backup activities in cloud.

Formalise the service providers' liability for data misplacement, loss and/or theft, outages, downtime, and interoperability failures.

Modify ICT infrastructure for service management skills.

Appoint a privacy and risk manager to supervise data management, protection and security.

Local public authorities and small private companies could follow these steps and safely move to the cloud. It will benefit them and the economy.

Of course, the effects of cloud computing will depend on the speed of its adoption, so policymakers should promote a rapid takeup, especially in the public sector. The difficulty will be to overcome problems of reorganisation, data portability and data privacy. All this requires a strategy and public authorities around Europe should co-ordinate for the purpose.

Cloud computing is currently developing along different concepts, focused on the provision of infrastructure as a service (renting virtual machines), platform as a service (using platforms on which software applications can run) or software as a service (renting the full service, as for emails). In preparation for its development, many hardware and software companies are investing to create new datacenters and services.

Cloud platforms provide services to create applications in competition with, or as an alternative to on-premise platforms – the traditional platforms based on an operating system as a foundation, on a group of infrastructure services and on a set of packaged and custom applications. The crucial difference between the two platforms is that, while on-premise platforms are designed to support consumer-scale or enterprise-scale applications, cloud platforms can potentially support multiple users on a wider scale, namely the internet, generating large gains in terms of cost-effectiveness.

The most relevant economic benefit of cloud computing is associated with a generalised reduction of the fixed costs of entry and production, in terms of shifting fixed capital expenditure from IT into operative costs depending on the size of demand and production. This contributes to reducing the barriers to entry especially for SMEs. The consequences on the endogenous structure of the markets will be wide, with entry of new companies, a reduction of mark-ups, and an increase in average and total production.

In recent research we have adopted a macroeconomic approach to study the effects that this innovation has on the cost structure of the European firms investing in IT and consequently the incentives to create and expand new businesses, on the market structure, on the level of competition in their sectors, and ultimately on the effects for aggregate production, employment and other macroeconomic variables.

Starting from conservative assumptions on the cost reduction process associated with the diffusion of cloud computing over five years, we have estimated that it could provide a positive and substantial additional contribution to the annual growth rate (up to a few decimal points), helping to create about 1.5 million permanent jobs in the EU through the development new SMEs. Similar results have been obtained by other research institutes, such as IDC.

Federico Etro is professor of economics at the University of Venice, Ca' Foscari. You can visit his website at Intertic.org/Etro.