Category: Archive – 2011

Certain big mouths like to refer to the National waste management and compliance scheme, Green MT, as "the company of Vince Farrugia" or even  stating that Green MT was established to enrich Vince Farrugia and the GRTU. These claims are not only ridiculous but put to shame whoever states them.

 

Anyone can verify with the MFSA and establish that Green MT is a company owned 99% by GRTU and 1% by Vince Farrugia in his capacity as Chief Officer of GRTU, a requirement necessary at law. Green MT is a not for profit organsiation depending on its income on payments made by the 247 members. These payments are made according to the volume of recyclable materials collected and covering the legal requirements of each paying member. In order to fulfill its functions GRTU signs agreements with the 41 Local Councils in who's localities in total more than 70% of the recyclable waste is collected.  And Green MT also collects from private sector, large enterprises that produce large volumes of recyclable waste. In its operations GRTU engages 69 private suppliers as it is GRTU's and Green MT's policy not to compete directly with any private supplier of service. No profit is made on the total cost of the operation and therefore no money goes to GRTU as any positive balances are ploughed back as advantages to the contracting Local Councils through various schemes and projects to the benefit of the local community and financed by Green MT and to the individual members of Green MT in the form of increased services and direct lowering of fees payable to Green MT.

Vince Farrugia is Chairman of the Board of Directors and as part of his functions as Director General of GRTU, he does not receive any remuneration from Green MT and not even in the form of other benefits. Anything stated to the contrary by whoever, are sheer lies.

On 15^th February, the European Parliament' adopted the IMCO Committee report by Ms Gebhardt on the implementation of the services directive. Amongst the points made:

 

Lack of information and unnecessary administrative burdens are still seriously hindering cross-border trade in services. The report outlines concrete proposals for Member States to improve the implementation of the Services Directive.

MEPs point to the need to ensure easy access to information for businesses and to step up administrative cooperation, as areas where Member States can improve the directive's implementation.

The functioning of the Points of Single Contact (PSC) set up under the directive must be improved. It was suggested that PSCs be turned into comprehensive e-Government portals, allowing procedures and formalities to be completed remotely, by electronic means and providing relevant information to service providers, including information on labour and tax law as well as procedures related to VAT and social security registration.

All information given by the PSCs should also be available in languages other than the national language. In particular, the PSCs should take into consideration the languages of neighbouring countries.

MEPs regret that the PSCs and cross-border provision of service opportunities are not yet widely known by service providers and call on the Commission and Member States to launch information and training campaigns as soon as possible and to improve the visibility and recognisability of the "eu-go" domain which brings together all PSC websites.

Better training for administrative cooperation: the report urges Member States to improve training of civil servants aiming to step up administrative cooperation and facilitate cross-border provision of services. It also underlines the beneficial impact of the internal market information system (an electronic tool for cooperation between national and regional administrations).

Scope of the directive: MEPs noted the discussion in some Member States on services excluded from the scope of the Directive because of their specific nature (such as the health services or transport) and suggested that these services may require a specific framework which could be included in forthcoming work on the Single Market Act.

GRTU welcomes the European Parliament's assent to the comprehensive free trade agreement between the EU and South Korea. This is a great day for European retailers and wholesalers.

 

In the current economic environment, the EU-Korea deal is exactly the right sign against protectionism. Open markets sustain growth and prosperity.

The agreement significantly improves the conditions for European traders on the Korean market. The abolition of size restrictions will allow retailers to freely choose the format of their stores in Korea. Unlike today, they will also be allowed to offer an almost complete range of goods to Korean consumers. This will not only enhance their competitiveness on the highly challenging Asian market, but also act as a catalyst for European exports.

Korea counts among the biggest trading partners of the European Union. The trade deal brings European companies access to 50 million consumers and is the most ambitious trade agreement the EU has ever negotiated.

Director General Vince Farrugia has taken an important role at the EESC as representative of owners of Maltese enterprise. Vince Farrugia is member of the Employers Group Bureau and also member of the Bureau of INT (Section for the Single Market, Production and Consumption). He is also member of ECO (Economic and Monetary Union and Economic and Social Cohesion), TEN (Transport Energy, Infrastructure and Information Society) and CCMI (Consultative Commission on Industrial Change) and member of the Transport Category and.

 

He has been appointed Rapporteur on the Commission Communication on the effective enforcement of budgetary surveillance in the euro area, on the Commission paper on Removing Tax obstacles for EU-citizens and also on the Commission Green Paper on expanding the use of e-Procurement  in the EU. He is also member of the Study groups that are formed to make preparations on opinions of Sanctions-Financial Services and Audit Policy.

During the meeting held under the Hungarian Presidency in Budapest Vince Farrugia also took part in the Hearing of the Single Market Observatory (SMO) where he presented GRTU's views on the Single Market Act. These views will be incorporated in the Opinion proposed by the EESC on the Small Business Act.

Vince Farrugia has this week also raised the problems faced by the many Maltese SMEs who operate and invest in Libya. The plight of Maltese entrepreneurs in Libya is similar to that of other entrepreneurs from other EU Member States. Vince Farrugia requested that EESC President stresses the issue with Foreign Affairs Representative Jose Manuel Barroso so that in the assistance programme proposed by the EU in reaction to the Libyan crises they also give high priority to the plight of European owners and private investors in Libya. 

GRTU repeatedly stressed that under OPM instructions Government Department Secretaries and Authorities are obliged to consult stakeholders affected by any proposed Legal Notice or Legislation. OPM circular also insists on the drawing of a mitigation plan to relieve any dysfunctional impact of any proposed new legislative measures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This OPM is apparently a dead letter or otherwise it is held as a top security item as never is any report published that declares with whom of the stakeholders has the consultation been done and what mitigation action has been proposed to alleviate any negative economic or social impact.

Is it possible that no member of parliament demands this information? Why Legal Notices are laid on the table of the House of Representatives? As the GRTU.

The GRTU, Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises is once more creating an Awareness Campaign both with its members as well as the Public in general regarding the prohibition of Smoking in Public Places, and the sanctions which the law provides in the case of breaches by patrons in public establishments, against the patrons themselves as well as the management of such public places.

 

During a cordial meeting held with High Officials of the Executive Police, GRTU officials moreover discussed the enforcement being carried out by the Police of the ban on Smoking in Public Places. The GRTU emphasized on the importance in the Police observing the discretion granted by Article 17 of the Tobacco (Smoking Control) Act (Chapter 315 of the Laws of Malta), in the event of persons being found smoking in public places, in relation to the operators of public establishments "who exercised  all due diligence to prevent the commission of the crime". Consequently if the operators have taken every possible care in preventing persons from smoking inside their establishments but patrons are still found breaking the law, then the establishment's operators should not be prosecuted.

Following the campaign which the GRTU had embarked upon in 2004 when the Smoking In Public Places Regulations originally came into force, Warning Stickers are once more being distributed to establishments which prominently indicate that the venue a patron has entered into is a public place and that consequently smoking therein is prohibited. These stickers serve a dual purpose: that of informing the general public that it is against the law to smoke in a particular venue, as well as a direct message from an establishment's management that they are adhering to the Smoking In Public Places Regulations and thus enforcing the smoking ban within their premises.

The GRTU invites operators of public establishments to collect their stickers, which are available in two sizes, from its offices in Republic Street Valletta.

Further information may be obtained from Philip Fenech, President Tourism, Hospitality & Leisure Division, GRTU on 99493534.

How to improve productivity and reduce costs in manufacturing! European Commission-funded programme in Japan – Call for applications

In-depth analysis of Japanese manufacturing methodology.

You are an EU manager; you work in a manufacturing company. Participate in the 5-day "World Class Manufacturing" training mission in Japan!

 

The programme provides:

In-depth analysis of Japanese manufacturing methodology

Lectures, seminars and panel discussions, presented by experts from Japanese industry

Company and factory floor (Gemba) visits

Preparation and post-visit reviews

No tuition fee for SMEs and the European Commission grants 600 EUR scholarships to participants from SMEs.

Next training missions in Japan:

Training dates: 27 June – 1 July 2011 – Application deadline: Thursday, 24 March 2011

Training dates: 17 – 21 October 2011 – Application deadline: Thursday, 9 June 2011

More information:

Contact: Céline GODART : – Tel:+32 2 282 3716

http://onm60.com/zelvarmow2pscj4zmj/index3.html

The European Commission will launch the 2011 LIFE+ Call for Proposals in mid February 2011, with a budget of Euro 265,360 million for projects across the European Union targeting the environment under three headings: nature and biodiversity, environment policy and governance, and information and communication.

 

The Commission would like to invite you to participate in a LIFE+ Information Session to be held shortly after the Call for Proposals, on 04.03.2011 at the EU Representation, Valletta. The aim of this Information Session is to inform potential applicants about the LIFE+ Programme in the context of the 2011 Call for Proposals:

You can download the provisional agenda for the Session:

http://stellaconsulting.com/LIFE+/AgendaMalta2011.pdf

To register for this LIFE+ Information Session, http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=9pnuUWviIFI9djq0yD2orA_3d_3d to fill in the online Registration Form and click the Done button when you have finished.

The registration for this Session is open until 18.02.2011. There are limited places available at this event, and we may have to use a first-come first-served approach.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Joanna Pachucka, .

While services currently represent two-thirds of the EU's GDP and employment, they only make up for around one-fifth of total intra-EU trade. Today, only about 8% of European SMEs do business in other Member States. This lack of dynamism not only hampers choice for consumers, but also prevents small and innovative businesses to grow, develop their activities and become more competitive. To unlock this potential of the Single Market for services by 2012, the European Commission has adopted a set of targeted actions to tackle remaining problems. The Services Directive aims precisely at removing unnecessary and burdensome obstacles to trade in services in the Single Market. One year after the implementation deadline, the Commission and the Member States have completed an assessment of how the Directive has been implemented on the ground. The results of this so-called "mutual evaluation" exercise conclude that, while much has been achieved so far, the Single Market for services is not yet delivering its full potential.

 

Targeted actions to strengthen EU services markets

The Services Directive was a major step forward, but work remains to be done to make EU services markets work better. The Communication "Towards a Single Market Act – (IP/10/1390) for a highly competitive social market economy", adopted on 27 October 2010 stated that the gains from a better functioning Single Market for services are estimated at annual profits of €60 to €140 billion, a growth of GDP of between 0.6 and 1.5%. While services currently represent two-thirds of the EU's GDP and employment, they only account for around one-fifth of total intra-EU trade. Today, only about 8% of European SMEs do business in other Member States. This lack of dynamism not only hampers choice for consumers, but also prevents small and innovative businesses from developing their activities and growing further. In response, the Commission has outlined the following actions:

Making sure the Single Market works on the ground: in 2011 and 2012, the Commission will carry out a "performance check" of the Single Market for services from the user's perspective, e.g. a Swedish architect who wants to design a house in Italy or a Finnish resident who uses the services of a Czech accountant. The "performance check" will take account of all other EU rules applying to services beyond the Services Directive and will assess how these different EU rules interact. The objective is to identify specific practical problems that hamper the internal market for services and how the interaction between different rules may have unintended effects. The Commission has already indentified a need to consider further action vis-à-vis the limitations imposed on certain providers in some countries, e.g. in terms of the legal form they can take (for instance prohibiting providers of craft services such as carpenters from taking the form of a limited liability company), or of the persons that can hold capital in their companies (for instance the obligation to be a qualified tax advisor in order to hold capital in a company offering tax advice services).

Removing obstacles to cross-border services: The "mutual evaluation" provided particular evidence of difficulties in the cross-border provision of services without permanent establishment (where the service provider is not permanently based in the country he/she is offering the service). The Commission will now closely monitor the effects of the Services Directive in this respect. A first progress report will be published by the end of 2011 and from then on annually. The emergence of new regulatory barriers to services in Member States' legislation must also be avoided. Such barriers can stem from Member States revising their establishment requirements and the Commission will closely monitor relevant developments.

Ensuring an ambitious implementation and thorough application of the Services Directive: The Commission will engage in bilateral dialogue with a number of Member States where there is evidence of problems with implementation of the Directive. Furthermore, the Commission will in 2011 carry out a first economic assessment of the effects of the implementation of the Directive and its impact on the functioning of the services markets.

Background

The Services Directive is an EU law that came into force with the aim of removing unnecessary and burdensome obstacles to the provision of services across the EU. Services represent +/- 66% of EU GDP. The Services Directive is a horizontal law covering a large variety of services representing around 40% of EU GDP and employment. The Directive required Member States, by the end of 2009, to simplify their administrative procedures and establish "Points of Single Contact" to allow businesses to more easily process paperwork electronically. In order to take stock of the progress made and identify remaining gaps, the Directive foresaw a "mutual evaluation" process that was carried out in 2010. This was an innovative and evidence-based exercise of "peer review" in which the Member States and the Commission examined together the main results of the implementation of the Services Directive.

A dynamic EU services sector is a key priority for the Commission. Services are the driving force of the EU economy and around nine out of ten jobs are created in this sector. As identified in the Commission's Annual Growth Survey (see IP/11/22), the EU will only meet its ambitious Europe 2020 targets for sustainable and inclusive growth if urgent structural reforms are prioritised in services and product markets to improve the business environment.