Category: Archive – 2012

The future of seafood supply was at the centre of today's debate organised by The Alliance for Common Fisheries Policy Reform and EU Commissioner for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Maria Damanaki at the European Seafood Exposition, the world's largest seafood trade event.

Representatives of the seafood industry learnt that public money could help to secure the long-term supply of sustainable seafood if the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) brings about the necessary changes.

Referring to the current debate about the new EU Fisheries Fund 2014-2020, Commissioner Damanaki said: "The future funding of the Common Fisheries Policy will be deployed to give a real boost towards environmental, social and economic sustainability for our coastal areas. Its measures will give the fisheries reform a real footing towards a healthy, profitable and strong sector that takes an interest in environmentally stable fish stocks and increased consumer demand for sustainable fish".

The Alliance For Common Fisheries Policy Reform urged European decision-makers to address the current lack of governance by ending the short-term decisions that regulate fishing from year to year and by using EU funds effectively. Speaking on behalf of the Alliance, Irish Chef Evan Doyle of Euro-Toques said: "Chefs don't want fish to become a rare delicacy. The wild fish on our plates could disappear if the EU misses this year's opportunity to reform the Common Fisheries Policy and put its fisheries on the road to recovery and sustainable management."

"When it comes to the question of how EU funds should be spent, there is no room for bargaining: future fisheries funds should be targeted to maintaining fish stocks in the long-term and ensuring consumers "can have their fish and eat it too."

Why did you become an entrepreneur? I became a business woman because I have always admired my father and the way he started his business and built it gradually to what it is today. I am following in his footsteps.

How have you come to choose your line of business?

I have practically grown up in the catering business since I started helping my father out in his restaurant when I was still only 12, so it was the only line of business I could ever follow.

Where did you go on your last holiday?

My last holiday was in the Castelli Romani, just outside Rome, where I go to visit my family and remind myself of the beautiful place where I have grown up.

What is your earliest memory?

My earliest memories are the family holidays in Sardegna; the ferry trip there and the lovely beach house remain impressed in my mind.

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

Maria de Filippi, Italian TV personality who has always used her popularity to help people in need. Another example of a self-made business woman.

Il-Kunsill Malti għall-Kwalifiki (MQC) flimkien mall-GRTU, l-Kamra Maltija ghan Negozji Zghar u Medji u l-Malta Chamber of Motor Assessors  (MCMA), ser iniedu Standards tax-Xogħol fil-Qasam tal-Motor Damage. L-Istandards tax-Xogħol jiddeskrivu x'inhu mistenni mill-individwu li jkun jaħdem f'xogħol speċifiku. L-Istandards tax-Xogħol jesprimu l-prestazzjoni f'termini ta' riżultati u jindikaw wieħed x'għandu jkun jaf sabiex ikun jista' jaħdem bil-mod mistenni.

Dawn l-istandards jigbru flimkien il-ħiliet, l-għarfien u l-esperjenzi u huma għodda prezzjuża li tista' tiġi użata bħala punt ta' referenza għall-valutazzjoni, l-akkreditazzjoni u r-reklutaġġ.

Filfatt, l-istandards tax-xogħol jipprovdu sfidi għall-individwi sabiex jirriflettu fuq il-prestazzjoni tagħhom. Dawn iservu wkoll bħala għodda għad-deskrizzjoni tax-xogħol, għall-evalwazzjoni, s-superviżjoni u t-taħriġ.

Il-Kunsill Malti għall-Kwalifiki huwa nvolut f'diversi proġetti sabiex jistabilixxi standards tax-xogħol f'setturi differenti, li jinkludu involviment u ftehim suffiċjenti mill-partijiet rilevanti interessati kollha – dan isir biex dawn l-istandards ikunu rikonoxxuti fil-pajjiż kollu.

It-tnedija tal-istandards tax-xogħol fil-qasam tal-Motor Damage se jkollha rwol importanti fil-modernizzazzjoni tal-edukazzjoni u t-taħriġ. Dawn l-istandards tax-xogħol huma l-qofol ta' siegħat ta' xogħol iebes minn voluntiera fis-settur tal-Motor Damage membri fil-GRTU.

L-għan ta' tnedija ta' dawn l-iStandards hu sabiex tinħoloq kuxjenza u impenn mas-setturi kollha f'Malta lejn ħidma f'kuntest ta' sħubija u l-iżvilupp ta' kunsilli ta' ħiliet settorjali u standards tax-xoghol. 

GRTU has this week presented it's views as approved by GRTU National Executive Council, on the amendments proposed for the restructuring of the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development. The main points of the proposal below: 1. Government will refer for the Opinion of MCESD all draft legislation, green papers and other proposals formulated by Government or Parliament having an economic and social nature.

It will be the responsibility of MCESD to provide requested Opinions in consultation with all stakeholders irrespective of whether they have a direct representation on MCESD, at Council, Civil Society or Gozo Regional Committee level. The Opinions of MCESD should preferably be the result of consensus at MCESD Council level. Where consensus is not possible, MCESD will list members who consent to the Opinion and other members who do not consent, specifying the points where consensus has not been obtained.

2. The members appointed to the Council and to the Committees, except for Government nominees, shall be appointed from organisations that are democratic with elected Councils or Committees and registered either as employers associations, trade unions or non-governmental organisations, and subject to the rules and regulations of the specific legal registration.

3. Persons holding elected public office cannot be appointed to Council or Committees.

4. The Council and Committees are democratic organisations where every member is equal irrespective of size of the organisation or functions of the same organisations. No member of Council or of Committees shall have more than one representative.

5. All decisions taken at Council level shall be by consensus. Where consensus is not available Council will list approving and dissenting members when Opinions are in reference from Government or Parliament.

6. The members of Council listed by notice in the Government Gazette should also include a member from Farmers and Fishermen organisations in addition to another member representing professional organisations and chambers of professionals in lieu of the two seats vacated by members having more than one member.

7. The Executive Secretary shall be responsible for the Council and the Committees

8. The Executive Secretary is responsible for the taking and drafting of minutes of all Council and Committee meetings.

9. The term of office of the members shall be of 2 years.

10. Any individual representing a member organisation shall on any occasion where he/she has a personal or commercial interest on any matter discussed under any item of the agenda declare such interest and withdraw from any deliberation on the indicated item on the agenda.

11. Dates of Council and Committee meetings shall be notified ten days in advance and members shall within six days before the appointed Council or Committee meeting date refer to the Executive Secretary on any issues they wish to include in the agenda. Determination of what is to be included on the agenda are made by the Chair in consultation with the deputy chair and General Secretary.

12. The members of the Committee shall be appointed by the Prime Minister and all Government references for the Opinion of MCESD shall be directed by the Prime Minister on behalf of the Cabinet of Ministers. The Prime Minister shall be responsible to Parliament for the proper conduct and adequate financial and administrative support to MCESD. The Prime Minister may delegate these functions to the Minister responsible for Dialogue.

GRTU has this week helped co-organise an event, following invitation by the Austrian Ambassador to Malta Petra Schneebauer and the Austrian Commercial Consul for Malta Michael Berger which also involved a business forum where GRTU members met Austrian businesses interested in doing business with Maltese entrepreneurs. A total of 150 meetings were held and the event.

GRTU's President Paul Abela introduced himself as President of GRTU, the Chamber representing from the smallest and simplest type of enterprise in Malta. Daily these micro, small and medium enterprises astonish us at GRTU with their will, bravery and perseverance at doing business. Mr Abela's speech went on as follows:

I believe we are all here today because our Austrian colleagues who have organised this event, which is really an opportunity for my members, and for this I truly thank you, have themselves, together with the Austrian businesses we have welcomed in Malta, recognised the skill of the Maltese entrepreneur.

I myself had participated in a business delegation to Vienna organised by Malta Enterprise a couple of years ago and the Maltese businesses were even back then very keen on doing business with Austria.

Trade figures can vouch for the opportunities that are already being exploited. Total imports during 2011 amounted to €24M while total exports amounted to €7M. Since 2010 these figures almost doubled and we are here today because our enterprises see further opportunities.

GRTU has been established over 60 years ago and we have seen our members not only grow but even outgrow the Maltese market potential. The Maltese market is still developing but to achieve further success and significant growth Maltese entrepreneurs need to look outside the Maltese market into the European market of 500M consumers and even outside the European market. Currently Maltese enterprises are aggressively tapping outside the Maltese market and they are being successful. We as GRTU provide them with all types of support needed and we instigate Government to support local enterprises through trade schemes and delegation visits. GRTU holds regular information sessions, hosts business delegations, accompanies its members on delegation visits and signs bilateral agreements with business Chambers to help its members with required contacts and support when in a foreign country.

Other than the work carried out by the GRTU's internationalisation Desk GRTU also keeps its members updated on any developments at EU, national and local level. Through our Brussels representatives EuroCommerce and UEAPME, where Austria is also well represented, and through GRTU's seats in the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the European Social Fund (ESF) we ensure the views and interests of our members are represented through all available channels at EU level. In Malta GRTU sits on the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development (MCESD) and holds other important seats while at the same time keeping an open and healthy relationship also at Local Council level.

Today GRTU is an organisation that acts as a one-stop-shop for its members and channels information in an intelligent manner to ensure members receive the information they require in a timely manner and in a way they can understand it. All these things make GRTU an interactive and essential partner for businesses and we are here available for the Maltese and Austrian enterprises that require any type of support.

I will conclude by once again thanking our Austrian colleagues for taking the initiative to organise such an event. Please do make the most of the meetings today and network and make contacts as much as you can. We will invite our members to follow up on the contacts made today as I am sure that these introductory meetings can lead to good and healthy business relationships. I hope to be in a position to reciprocate soon with a Maltese delegation in Austria and for today I wish you good business!

Discussion is already shaping up to become a proxy battle over the size of the EU's multi-year spending programme for 2014-20. The European Commission will next week publish its proposal for the European Union's budget in 2013, initiating a battle with the EU's largest member states, which want to see spending reduced.

Although it is the member states and the European Parliament that ultimately decide the level of the budget, the Commission's proposal will be the starting-point. Discussion of the 2013 budget is already shaping up to become a proxy battle over the size of the EU's multi-year spending programme for 2014-20. The European commissioners, who are supposed to approve the draft budget on Wednesday (25 April), will the same day receive an update about negotiations over the multiannual programme.

The Commission is expected to propose that the budget should be increased by at least 5% compared to the 2012 budget. That level of increase would be fiercely opposed by much of the Council of Ministers, with Germany, France, the UK and the Netherlands leading the calls for the budget to be limited to its 2012 level plus inflation, or even cut. But a majority in the European Parliament will be calling for a bigger increase than the Commission proposes.

Sidonia Jedrzejewska, a Polish centre-right MEP who drafted the Parliament's opinion on the 2011 budget, said: "This is going to be a very special annual budget because it is the last year of the current multiannual financial framework. But also, because of the austerity atmosphere, we saw a level of payments which was too low during the last two budget years, 2011 and 2012."

Janusz Lewandowski, the European commissioner for financial programming and budget, has already warned that a carry-over of €11 billion from 2012 of claims from member states for spending on EU projects threatens to leave the budget short of money in 2013 to meet its obligations.

Jedrzejewska said: "What we have created is a backlog. The move I would expect from the Commission's draft budget is to propose a correct level of payments, which would be a substantial increase on 2012. It has to be more than 5%."

Representatives of the commissioners are due to meet today (19 April) to hammer out revisions to the draft budget, which will address both the overall level of spending and the distribution of the budget between different policy areas.

Neelie Kroes, the European commissioner for the digital agenda, is engaged in an eleventh-hour struggle to preserve the budget for research in information and communication technology. The budget department has proposed to take money away from ICT research to meet a funding shortfall in the controversial ITER nuclear research project. The plan is to cut €240 million from research, and €150m of that would come specifically from ICT research. At a conference in Rome last week, Kroes said that the cuts would be "a big mistake". "Everyone in the industry should raise their voice to say never, ever," Kroes said.

Industry groups have taken up the cause. Digital Europe, an association of technology firms, has sent a letter to Barroso, saying the cuts would "cause a direct and significant reduction in European jobs in the near future".

A British official said that the UK government would be very unhappy to see ICT research taking a disproportionate hit to pay for the ITER overruns and that the cuts should be more widely spread.

German MEP Helga Trüpel, spokesperson for the Greens on the budget, said: "We should not be pouring any more money down the black hole that is the ITER nuclear fusion project."

After publication of the draft budget next week, the proposal will go to finance ministers for discussion on 15 May. It will then be discussed in working groups until the end of June, with the aim that member states and MEPs reach agreement in the autumn.

The European Union's interior ministers are preparing to agree next week the broad outlines of a scheme to collect and analyse data from airline passengers travelling into and out of EU airports. 

The scheme, proposed in February 2011 by Cecilia Malmström, the European commissioner for home affairs, would oblige airlines to forward passenger name records (PNR), including addresses and credit card numbers, to national authorities for potential use in criminal investigations.

National governments are keen on having EU-wide rules on the collection and analysis of PNR, even though only a handful of them systematically collect PNR at present.

The member states are backing a British proposal to amend the draft directive so that governments are free to decide the purposes for which PNR can be used. Malmström's proposal limited the use of PNR to terrorism and other serious crimes.

Peter Hustinx, the European data-protection supervisor, last year issued a negative opinion on the necessity and proportionality of the Commission's proposal. National data-protection authorities share that opinion.

The ministers' agreement, to be concluded at a justice and home affairs council in Luxembourg next week (26-27 April), would pave the way for talks with the European Parliament, whose backing is required for the proposed directive to become law.

MEPs are expected today (19 April) to approve a controversial PNR agreement with the United States. The agreement with the US is not linked to the proposal for an EU PNR system, but has raised some of the same concerns.

At their meeting next week, the interior and justice ministers will also discuss asylum issues and management of the Schengen area.

GRTU President Paul Abela has recently participated in a business delegation to Israel. Below are a list of the companies he met that might be of interest to the GRTU members. Kindly contact Abigail Mamo at GRTU for the contact details.

Kesher

Kesher produces magazines. Currently it does so for a number of countries such as Cyprus, Russia and Israel.

Sano

Sano is Israel's leading manufacturer of high quality household cleaning products and personal hygiene products. It has over 600 products. Sano also has special niche products. Sano was founded in 1965. Product categories: Household and industrial cleaning materials, laundry detergents, toiletries, diapers and paper products, air fresheners, pesticides and insect repellants.

Abir Global Security

A high profile company that offers a wide range of comprehensive security services.  Since 1995, "Abir" has been providing unique and creative security solutions to our customers.  Our client base consists of major corporations, government organizations, and the general public. 

EVO Israel

Produces a variety of olive oils

SWOT

If you are involved in training or consulting in the fields of marketing or management, the SWOT Toolbox gives you an opportunity to expand your business options and to meet the needs of a larger market. The SWOT Toolbox provides proven marketing strategies and tactics. The SWOT Toolbox was developed in Israel for the local market, and you may easily adapt it to meet the needs of your market.

The pressure on agricultural income is expected to continue as farmers are facing more risks, a slowdown in productivity and a margin squeeze due to rising input prices; there is therefore a need to maintain income support and to reinforce instruments to better manage risks and respond to crisis situations.

 

A strong agriculture is vital for the EU food industry and global food security. At the same time, agriculture and rural areas are being called upon to step up their efforts to meet the ambitious climate and energy targets and biodiversity strategy that are part of the Europe 2020 agenda.

The Commission proposal for the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2014-2020 (the MFF proposal) sets the budgetary framework and main orientations for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). On this basis, the Commission presents a set of regulations laying down the legislative framework for the CAP in the period 2014-2020:

– Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing common rules for direct support schemes for farmers under the common agricultural policy and repealing Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 (the direct payments regulation);

– Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a common organisation of the market in agricultural products (the Single CMO regulation);

– Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) (the rural development regulation);

– Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the financing, management and monitoring of the common agricultural policy (the horizontal regulation);

– Proposal for a Council regulation determining measures on fixing certain aids and refunds related to the common organization of the market in agricultural products;

– Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 as regards the application of transitional measures in respect of the year 2013;

– Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council modifying Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 establishing a common organization of agricultural markets and on specific provisions for certain agricultural products (Single CMO Regulation) as regards the regime of the single payment scheme and support to vine-growers.

The current reform proposals are based on the Communication on the CAP towards 20201 that outlined broad policy options in order to respond to the future challenges for agriculture and rural areas and to meet the objectives set for the CAP.

A Consultation Session is going to be held :

Date: Thursday, 3rd May 2012

Time: 16.00pm

Venue: MEUSAC, 280, Republic Street, Valletta

If interested to attend kindly send an email on by not later than Wednesday, 2nd May.