CorporateDispatch PRO Edition 16 by The Dispatch Media

Corporate DispatchPro

Issue No.16 | January 2021

Corporate DispatchPro The Journal of CI Group

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Issue No.16 | January 2021

Corporate DispatchPro The Journal of CI Group EDITORIAL TEAM Managing Editor - Jesmond Saliba Editor – Nathanael Muscat CONTRIBUTORS Denise Grech Fabio James Petani Gina Chon Karen Kwok Keith Zahra Dr Maria Brown Manlio Graziano PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Laura Grima Shirley Zammit DESIGN TEAM Matthew Borg Nicholas Azzopardi

CONTENTS A rocky road to the White House

The world in pictures

Honesty is the only policy

A great deal of expectation

Eight years of Brexiting

Governing the EU-UK cooperation

The calm during the storm

Housing in Malta

Malta Insights

News Roundup

Communique 57 A geopolitical reading of fear

Biden’s $2 trillion rescue deal

Shared scooters jump into future

SOURCES

Published By

ADDITIONAL SOURCES

Design Produced

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Corporate DispatchPro Cover Story

A rocky road to the White House As a young boy, Joe Biden used to say he wanted to become President of the United States when he grew up. Sure enough, he announced his first presidential bid in 1987, aged just 44 years. He ran again in 2008, in a Democratic Primary that included Barack Obama who later chose him as his running mate. The 2020 cycle was the fulfilment of a lifelong ambition for Mr Biden, but the weeks following the election in November proved the most treacherous journey in 33 years of campaigning. The Republican camp pulled out an early upset in Florida, a state many had predicted would go down to the wire. Other battleground states were impossible to call on election night as record turnout across counties and an unprecedented number of mail-in votes placed initial projections within a tight margin of error. For four agonisingly long days, the US and indeed the world hovered in a state of uncertainty until Pennsylvania was finally called for the Democrats, propelling Biden over the 270 Electoral Votes threshold. President Donald Trump, who had been peddling allegations of possible vote rigging for months, refused to concede and ordered an army of lawyers to challenge vote results up and down the country. State and federal courts threw out all but one of the nearly 60 complaints filed by the Trump team. The incumbent doubled down on his Twitter account, repeating claims of widespread fraud and declaring himself the true winner of the election. Meanwhile, Biden started assembling his team even if the General Services Administration â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the agency tasked with facilitating the transition of power â&#x20AC;&#x201C; kept its door closed to him until the last week of November. 3

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Corporate DispatchPro The election took its most dramatic turn in Georgia, a traditionally red state that flipped blue by the slimmest of margins. Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger announced that there would be a recount, as per state laws, then another one following a request by President Trump. Georgia finally confirmed Biden’s close win, with an advantage of less than 12,000 in a state of five million voters. As the Electoral College was preparing to convene, states with GOP leadership that were won by Mr Biden, came under immense pressure by Donald Trump – personally, in some instances – to cast their votes for him. In the end, all states voted according to the election results handing a total 232 Electoral Votes to the Republicans and 306 to the Democrats. The final step of the process was the certification of these Electoral Votes by Congress in January, a formality presided over by the Vice President himself. But the commander-in-chief, still refusing to concede, attempted a last-ditch effort to overturn the election by publicly urging VP Mike Pence to reject the Electoral College votes. In the meantime, scores of Republican Senators and Representatives vowed to object to state results in the Capitol. The strain on the loyal Vice President was perceptible in a three-page statement he issued just before the sitting in which he carefully explained that he had no power to annul the Electoral Votes. The results were eventually certified, but not before the session was interrupted by a wild attack by pro-Trump rioters who violently invaded the Capitol and occupied it for the afternoon. The mayhem left at least five people dead and a country in shock. The next day, the President denounced the attackers and said he would turn his focus to the transfer of power. He also announced he would not attend the inauguration of his successor. Presidential Elections normally close the chapter on a partisan divide. But in the 77 days between the election and the inauguration, America seemed to grow even further apart than during the campaign period. As a candidate who promised national healing, President Joe Biden may have created an aspiration far grander than the one he had as a child. 5

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VARIOUS COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD SHUT DOORS TO BRITAIN AMID ALARM OVER NEW CORONAVIRUS STRAIN Various countries around the world began closing their doors to travellers from the United Kingdom on Sunday amid alarm about a rapidly spreading strain of coronavirus that has caused cases to soar there.

FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM BAN TRUMP INDEFINITELY Facebook Inc said it would block U.S. President Donald Trump’s accounts “indefinitely” and for at least the next two weeks until the presidential transition is completed. The decision by Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg comes after Facebook announced on Wednesday it would lock Trump’s account for 24 hours as tech giants scrambled to crack down on his baseless claims about the U.S. presidential election and hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol.

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Corporate DispatchPro SRIWIJAYA AIR CRASH PLACES INDONESIA’S AVIATION SAFETY UNDER FRESH SPOTLIGHT Indonesia’s chequered air safety record is again in the spotlight after a Sriwijaya Air jet carrying 62 people crashed into the Java Sea minutes after take-off on Saturday, marking the country’s third major airline crash in just over six years.

AUSTRIA TO ROLL OUT FIVE MILLION CORONAVIRUS TESTS FOR SCHOOL PUPILS Austrian schools will receive 5 million coronavirus testing kits from Jan. 18, the government said on Saturday, as part of efforts to curb the spread of the virus when pupils eventually return to the classroom.

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MILAN’S RAFAEL LEAO SCORES FASTEST GOAL IN SERIE A AC Milan forward Rafael Leao scored the fastest goal in Serie A history, hitting the target after six seconds, to set the Serie A leaders on their way to a 2-1 win at Sassuolo

DENMARK TO DIG UP MILLIONS OF MINK FROM MASS GRAVES Millions of mink will be dug up from mass graves in Denmark after some had resurfaced, prompting complaints from residents about possible health risks, the country’s government said.

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Corporate DispatchPro ITALY REPORTS FIRST PATIENT WITH BRITISH CORONAVIRUS VARIANT Italy has detected a patient infected with the new strain of the coronavirus also found in Britain, the health ministry said. The patient and his partner returned from the United Kingdom in the last few days with a flight that landed at Rome’s Fiumicino airport and were now in isolation.

TOP PEUGEOT SHAREHOLDERS APPROVE MERGER WITH FIAT Shareholders in Peugeot owner PSA gave the green light on Monday to the French company’s merger with Fiat Chrysler (FCA), one of the last steps towards creating the world’s fourth largest automaker.

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RIVER TIBER BURSTS ITS BANKS IN ROME The river Tiber bursts its banks following continuous heavy rains in Rome, Italy, as the whole country is currently in the grip of bad weather.

GUNS AND TEARGAS IN U.S. CAPITOL AS TRUMP SUPPORTERS ATTEMPT TO OVERTURN HIS LOSS Police in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday responded with drawn guns and tear gas on Wednesday as swarms of protesters stormed in and sought to force Congress to undo President Donald Trump’s election loss shortly after some of Trump’s fellow Republicans launched a last-ditch effort to throw out the results.

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Corporate DispatchPro ALEX ZANARDI SPEAKS TO FAMILY Two-time CART champion, Paralympic gold medalist, and former F1 driver Alex Zanardi has reportedly spoken to his family following a successful, “awake” surgery, reports the Italian news outlet Autosprint.

MODERNA VACCINE ENROUTE TO MALTA – DEPUTY PM FEARNE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health Chris Fearne, through Twitter, shared a photo of the first consignment being loaded on an Air Malta flight, en route to Malta, via Brussels.

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Corporate DispatchPro Editorial

Honesty is the only policy Our wonderful era of boundless information is accompanied by an equal potential for misinformation. The miracle of powerful knowledge-sharing that launched humanity into the third millennium has uncovered a nasty underbelly that intoxicates the values of accuracy, veracity, and legitimacy. Truth becomes a rocky terrain, especially when it is reduced to an interpretation of facts, and a double-decker problem crashes clumsily into our sense of certainty: whose interpretation to consider, which facts to believe? Societies have been long enough in a global trend of nihilism to recognise the air of post-expertise that permeates most areas of life. It could be nutrition advice, literary criticism, or management tips; personal experience is nowadays noticeably more authoritative than informed expertise. In the meantime, we can also begin to observe the foundations of a post-fact age taking shape, one in which alternative perspectives shatter any idea of a commonly acceptable reality. The fracas in Washington D.C. in the first week of the year is a disturbing but fitting epitome of this emerging world disorder. The rioting mob assaulting the Capitol represents, quite literally, the dangerous clash of realities that carve the US into two. The divide runs deeper than the Trump phenomenon and neither is it simply an American quirk. The mutually-exclusive standpoints of Brexiteers and Remainers in the UK, for example, have sucked up the political oxygen of Britain for nearly six years. The tumult of protests, debates, accusations, and manoeuvring since the 2015 general election was but the bubbling on top of decades of fermenting disagreement.

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Corporate DispatchPro In a time of profound mistrust, the notion of truth is the first to disintegrate. This confused situation, however, presents a new calling to leaders of democracies. More than truth, this historical moment requires honesty. Truth demands the consensus that is fast slipping out of hand, but candour and integrity lie within the individualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s grasp. Honesty is a public declaration that a person is siding with what they know while remaining actively open to what they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t. If truth is a pledge to a firm perception, honesty is commitment to the prism of views that refract across a community. The complexities of a post-truth world are many, but the answers will not be found without honesty. Jesmond Saliba

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A great deal of expectation After years of hard-nosed negotiations, false starts and inconclusive talks, the post-Brexit deal announced by the UK and the EU on December 24th felt nothing short of a Christmas miracle. With one week until the end of the transition period, many were bracing themselves for a no-deal dawn on January 1st.

If news of the deal eased anxiety for millions of citizens, businesses, and public officials on both sides of the channel, little time has been spared for them to digest the broad framework governing the future relationship. We summarise ten major themes in the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. GOODS Both sides wanted to avoid tariffs or quotas on goods, and this was successfully achieved allowing unlimited access across borders. Movement is also facilitated by unlimited road and air transport, although customs declarations and paperwork will make the process more cumbersome. The part of the agreement is underpinned by Rules of Origin requirements which means that goods need to satisfy a minimum threshold of derivation from the export country. Meat products, for example, must only come from animals born and raised in the countries covered by the pact. MARKET CONTROLS One of the EUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s priorities was to establish a so-called level playing field as insurance against aggressive competition by Britain in the single market. The regulations in this area cover themes such as 17

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YOUR PURPOSE IS YOUR BIGGEST ASSET

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Corporate DispatchPro employment law, climate change, tax regimes and, crucially for EU members, state aid. A range of annexes dedicated to specific sectors stipulate further limitations for market access by British businesses in EU countries. SERVICES Trade in financial services will be restricted across the channel, a key ask by EU governments, while the agreement makes no room for passporting blocking UK services out of the single market. The system allowing workers such as engineers or doctors to have their professional standards accredited – the Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications – has also been rescinded, though with some caveats. SUBSIDIES This theme was another major sticking point and agreement envisages a framework similar to the current regime used by the EU to be adopted by Britain. The former member, however, says it will not need to seek approval from regulating bodies in advance, as is the case with the European Commission. The two sides have also reached a deal on a ‘rebalancing mechanism’ that allows one side to impose tariffs if the other side fails to keep common standards. TRANSPORT Flights between the EU and the UK will remain unlimited and the deal erects safeguards for commercial practices such as code sharing and wet leasing. UK-based airlines, however, will no longer be able to operate flights with both origin and destination in EU territory. Haulage will continue with trucks allowed to transit between the UK and EU freely. Irish operators may also use the UK as a point to crossover into the EU. FISH Fishing emerged as one of the most contentious areas in the final months of negotiations, threatening to sink the process. The two 19

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Corporate DispatchPro sides have agreed on a transition period until 2026 during which fleets from both sides can fish in each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s waters, albeit with new quota shares. When the six years are up, the UK and EU will hold annual negotiations on access to waters and volume of catches. ENERGY Energy policy is the independent competence of each side but both parties clearly see the need for close cooperation in this field. New trading agreements will be drawn to facilitate collaboration on areas of mutual interest such as interconnectors and nuclear research. The agreement makes a strong commitment to climate change with explicit ties to Paris accord goals. SHORT STAYS Temporary trips for business purposes are allowed without the need for a Visa between the UK and the EU. Short-term business trips, including participations in trade fairs, meeting, training, negotiations, and procurement, will be limited to a maximum 90 days in any six-month period. EU PROGRAMMES The UK will still be eligible for funding from science and research scheme such as the Horizon Europe programme, which has a budget topping â&#x201A;Ź800 billion until 2027. British students will no longer be able to participate in the Erasmus programme, but the UK government has raised the idea of establishing a similar initiative. NORTHERN IRELAND The tricky situation has been diffused by integrating Northern Ireland into the UK customs territory, a change from the agreement proposed by Theresa May. Meanwhile, to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic, custom checks and controls will apply for goods crossing from Great Britain. Northern Ireland will follow EU VAT laws but, forming part of the UK VAT territory, revenues will go towards the UK. The EU Commission and the EU Court of Justice will retain oversight of the EU rule in the territory, but actual enforcement will be expected from UK insitiutions.

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Eight years of Brexiting As Britons were casting their votes in the EU referendum in 2016, Netflix was still running trailers for a new extravagant series called The Crown. Brexit may have been decided that summer, but the issue was far from settled and the event has been dominating the news for most of the decade – well before and after the referendum itself. Looking back at the major events that shaped the drama-filled adventure of Britain’s exit from the EU, the whole plot may seem closer to screenplay that the award-winning series on the streaming platform. January 2013 – British Prime Minister David Cameron says that disillusionment with the EU was “at an all-time high” and pledged to hold a referendum on the UK’s membership if the Conservative Party won the forthcoming general election in 2015. April 2015 – The Conservative Party launched its election manifesto, promising a renegotiation of Britain’s EU membership terms and an in/out referendum by 2017. The Labour Party committed to reform the EU and restore British leadership of the project. May 2015 – The Conservatives win a majority in parliament to govern on their own after leading a coalition in the previous term. Labour Leader Ed Miliband resigned following disappointing results. The leader of the Eurosceptic party UKIP, Nigel Farage, also stepped down, but the party’s share of the vote soared to 13 percent from 1.5 percent in 2001. February 2016 – Prime Minister David Cameron announced a referendum on Britain’s EU membership to be held in June that year. He said he would campaign for the ‘in’ vote and fight for EU reform. One of the Prime Minister’s allies, Justice Secretary Michael

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Corporate DispatchPro Gove, joined the Out Campaign while Home Secretary Theresa May, who was thought to lean Out, sided with the Prime Minister. June 2016 – Britain voted to leave the EU with a majority of 51.9 percent. A turnout of 72.2 percent was the highest voter participation in the UK since the 1992 general elections, with the Leave camp obtaining 17,410,742 votes – some 1.2 million more than the Remain side. June 2016 – Prime Minister David Cameron announced his resignation the day after the EU referendum. In his address to the press, he said that the people’s will had to be respected. July 2016 – Theresa May became British Prime Minister after being elected leader of the Conservative Party. She appointed David Davis in the newlycreated role of Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union. December 2016 – British Parliament votes overwhelmingly in favour of May’s plan to trigger the withdrawal process by the end of March 2017. January 2017 – A bill by the government to empower the Prime Minster to invoke Article 50 in the EU Treaty is passed with the support of the Labour Party. March 2017 – Theresa May delivers the letter for Britain to formally withdraw from the European Union to the President of the EU Council, Donald Tusk. The letter set a March 2019 deadline for the process. June 2017 – The Prime Minister announces a snap general election and, while the Conservatives remained the biggest party, they lost the parliamentary majority and formed a minority government with the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland. June 2017 – UK-EU negotiations on withdrawal officially begin with a meeting between Brexit Secretary David Davis and the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier. December 2017 – Both sides agree on major sticking points after talks had been in deadlock for weeks. A joint report announced negotiations moved on to discuss future relations. 25

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March 2018 – The EU and UK publish a draft agreement on Britain’s withdrawal, the document was littered with unresolved disagreements. July 2018 – Prime Minister Theresa May presents the UK’s whitepaper on the terms of the future relationship with the EU, known as the Chequers plan. Brexit Secretary Davis resigns in protest, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and other ministers follow suit. September 2018 – The EU rejects the Chequers document with Council President Tusk describing the plan as “cherry-picking” while chief negotiator Barnier raised concerns about the legality of the proposals on the Irish border. November 2018 – The two sides reach a deal on the exit terms which includes a UK customs union with the EU. The second Brexit Secretary, Dominic Raad, resigns and May appoints Stephen Barclay as his replacement. December 2018 – Theresa May faces criticism from within her party over the deal but survives a vote of confidence after promising to step down before the next election. January 2019 – The House of Commons solidly rejects the UK Withdrawal Agreement in a meaningful vote, marking the biggest defeat for any government in the parliament’s history. January 2019 – Theresa May demanded alternative arrangements with the EU, particularly on the issue of the Irish backstop. March 2019 – Parliament shoots down the revised withdrawal document, although by a smaller margin than the first time. The Prime Minister asked the EU to extend Brexit until June. EU leaders offered an April deadline if a deal is not passed by the House or a May deadline if a deal is passed. March 2019 – A protest in London demanding a second referendum attracts hundreds of thousands of people. March 2019 – More members of the Commons come round to the latest withdrawal deal but not enough for the government to win the meaningful vote. No agreement could be reached on alternative routes out of the situation – including holding a second referendum. 26

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April 2019 – The EU and UK agree on a further ‘flexible’ deadline for October. The UK could exit earlier if a deal were reached. May 2019 – Theresa May announces her resignation from the helm of the Conservative Party, staying on as caretaker Prime Minister until the election of a new leader. July 2019 – Boris Johnson elected Tory leader and forms government as the new Prime Minister. August 2019 – A formal plea by the British government to leave out the Irish backstop from the withdrawal agreement is refused by the EU. September 2019 – A bill introduced by Labour MP Hilary Benn is voted into law, preventing the UK from leaving the EU without an exit deal. October 2019 – The UK and the EU announce a new deal which includes a new protocol on Northern Ireland. The EU Council supports the agreement. October 2019 – Parliament forces the Prime Minister to seek a further extension, which the EU agrees to. Brexit is moved to January 31. October 2019 – Prime Minister Johnson calls an early election for December. 27

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Corporate DispatchPro December 2019 – The Conservatives regain parliamentary majority to govern alone. January 2020 – Parliament approves the withdrawal agreement. It passes through the European Parliament, too. January 2020 – The UK officially leaves the EU on the last day of January, but a transition period until the end of the year begins as the two sides seek agreement on the post-Brexit relationship. February 2020 – The government publishes a set of objectives from the deal, proposing free trade and cooperation but no regulatory alignment. April 2020 – EU Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier said that progress was slow as negotiations on trade, competition, justice, and fisheries between the two sides presented challenges. June 2020 – Opposition parties including the new Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer called on the government to extend the transition period in the wake of the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was adamant he would stick to the end-ofyear date. October 2020 – The UK Chief Negotiator told his counterpart in Brussels that scheduled meetings had “no basis” as a no-deal scenario was looming. Prime Minister Johnson said that an agreement would be unlikely before the stipulated deadline. November 2020 – Michel Barnier arrived in the UK to address the subject of fisheries and other outstanding issues. December 2020 – Prime Minister Boris Johnson and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen held talks over dinner to try to avoid a no-deal relationship. December 2020 – The UK government and the EU Commission announce on Christmas eve that a deal has been reached on a Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

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Governing the EU-UK cooperation Talks between the EU and the UK have officially ended with the announcement of the trade pact, but that agreement itself created a new conversation. The two sides must now manage and drive forward their relationship based on that very deal and, on the first day of the year, a new dialogue mechanism was born. The Joint Partnership Council is a body with an equal share of representatives from both parts of the agreement as well as independent experts and is co-chaired by an EU official and a UK Minister. The system is not dissimilar to other arrangements between countries that have trade deals, such as the one between the EU and Canada. The structure is tasked with overseeing the trade agreement and its protocols, and discussing any issues arising from them. As a body, it is limited to the deal itself and does not provide a forum for any bilateral dialogue outside the remit of the signed pact. An incredibly complex setup, the main council is supported by nine other sub-committees, ten focused units, and four specialised working groups each monitoring a specific area of the EU-UK relation spelled out in the trade agreement. Now that the Court of Justice of the EU no longer extends influence over the UK, any trade disputes between the two sides will seek settlement through the newly-formed JCP. In most cases, disagreements are expected to pursue diplomatic resolution through the Council, but the deal empowers the partners to apply retaliation measures against one another â&#x20AC;&#x201C; including the suspension of parts of the agreement â&#x20AC;&#x201C; if one side feels that the other is not fulfilling its obligations. 31

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Corporate DispatchPro The UK and EU agreed to evaluate the terms of the deal every five years. In 2024, the Council will begin a review process of the rights and obligations imposed on both sides and propose changes if needed. The establishment of the Joint Partnership Council may not have stirred excitement in the same way that the trade agreement has, but its unique function will be crucial for the success of the deal.

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The calm during the storm The invocation of Article 50 by the UK opened the door to a whirlwind that has blown past two British Prime Ministers, two EU Commissions, two UK elections, an EU Parliament election, three Brexit Secretaries of State. Amid all this turbulence, there was one constant: Michel Barnier. The French politician was announced the EU’s Chief Negotiator on Brexit in July 2016 and, since then, he has been the face of the complex dialogue with the UK on behalf of the other members of the European Union. Growing up in the French Alps in the 1950s and 1960s, Barnier enrolled in the boy scouts and the local choir, surely helpful experiences for the future task of congregating 27 governments into one voice and leading them through a winding and adventurous journey. A graduate of the École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris, Barnier held various posts in government ministries before embarking on an accomplished political career, starting with his election to the French National Assembly in 1978, aged 27. The rising star joined Édouard Balladur’s Cabinet as Environment Minister in 1993 before Jacques Chirac appointed him secretary of state for European affairs two years later. Barnier served as the European Commissioner for Regional Policy in the Prodi Commission at the turn of the millennium. In the next few years, he oscillated between national politics as French minister and the European stage, first as vice president of the European People’s Party, then as special adviser to EU Commission President Manuel Barroso. 35

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Corporate DispatchPro The seasoned politician formed part of a high-level group that formulated what later came to be known as the Lisbon Treaty, modernising the foundations and aspirations of the European Union. In 2010, Barnier was made EU Commissioner for the Internal Market and Services responsible for reforming the financial sector and laying the foundations for the digital single market. From 2015, he advised the Juncker Commission before being formally appointed head of the EUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Task Force on Brexit. His tempered demeanour shrouded a skill for diplomacy and compromise that held the EU national governments together and kept the dialogue with the UK moving forward. The Trade and Cooperation Agreement is an achievement in the shared values, mutual respect and common intent that define the European spirit. Michel Barnier represents its embodiment

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Corporate DispatchPro DR MARIA BROWN

Housing in Malta: The Cultural Goals vs. Institutionalised Means Conundrum The current housing situation in Malta needs to be contextualised in a mainstreamed culture where home ownership is considered as the ideal tenure status (Parliamentary Secretariat for Social Accommodation, 2018). As 78.2% of all households in Malta own their main dwelling and 60% of households belong to mortgage-free owners (National Statistics Office, 2018), the inequality between those who own their main dwelling and those who do not is more than the quantitative difference of 21.8%. There is a qualitative inequality threatening social wellbeing that may be clarified by Robert K. Mertonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sociological analysis (1968). Merton explained that deviance results when mainstreamed cultural goals cannot be accomplished through socially acceptable institutionalised means. In laypersonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s terms this is a carrot chase scenario where giving up the chase is associated with social disorientation (anomie or normlessness), which Merton associates with the rise of innovative and technically expedient yet often illegal means used to access the culturally desirable goals. In other sociological research, anomie has also been associated with suicide (Durkheim, 1979). The above breeds a social justiceoriented rationale for incentives targeting increased home ownership, such as Maltaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2019 Budget incentives that include the equity-sharing scheme for people who have turned 40 and are interested in buying a home, as well as stamp duty reduction for first-time buyers and second-time buyers (Scicluna, 2018). 39

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BRIDGING THE INVESTMENT GAP

SUPPORTING SMEs, INNOVATION, INFRASTRUCTURE & SOCIAL INVESTMENT

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Corporate DispatchPro PROACTIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP Ownership of dwellings for purposes that go beyond home ownership, particularly by small and medium newly emerged renting enterprises, testifies to proactive entrepreneurship that is likely to trigger decreases in state welfare expenditure. This is an optimal development considering that, until recently, policy analysis associated state welfare provision in Malta with being “too extensive and abused by society” (Azzopardi, 2011, p. 73); with welfare dependency and as requiring better monitoring on benefit claims and tax evasion (Azzopardi, 2011). Nevertheless, this does not necessarily translate to increased social wellbeing for the projected shrinking cohort of the disadvantaged. Decline in at risk of poverty rates may be spuriously correlated to a shrinking gap between financial and social resources of those who are at risk of poverty and of those who are thriving. The risk of out of sight, out of mind is high. Thus, figures tabled at Parliament in 2018 that account for 27 individuals sleeping rough between 2013 and 2018 testify to a situation where the size of the community is by no means comparable to the qualitative disparity with general standard of living. Homelessness in Malta has been qualified as an institutionalised phenomenon as YMCA accounted for 30 individuals requesting its beds each night. The phenomenon has also been tagged as the hidden scandal due to legislation prohibiting and formally sanctioning homelessness. Civil society has also drawn attention to the discourse limitations inherent to the use of the term ‘homelessness’ because it factors in only ‘rooflessness’. Consequently, data tabled in Parliament excluded people hosted at shelters or other institutions, people who lived in inadequate housing, on beaches, in cars, people who squatted in abandoned places or wore clothes found in donation piles that successfully camouflaged them as ‘normal’ (Carabott, 2018). RENT SECTOR In analysis, the burgeoning renting sector has acted as an eyeopener. Not immune to incongruence between goals and means, renting as a housing alternative triggered public outcry, as well 41

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Corporate DispatchPro as civil society and Government initiatives. In the Faculty for Social Wellbeing’s contribution during the consultation period concerning the White Paper ‘Renting as a Housing Alternative’ (Parliamentary Secretariat for Social Accommodation, 2018), those living in relatively low-cost residential rental units, who do not own property and earn relatively low salaries were identified as risking the hardest hit of the rent-wage disparity and, consequently, as a key priority for intervention. It was also argued that the same cohort’s wellbeing is at risk of an instant rise in rent prices by lessors to hedge against a possible Government cap, particularly in the view of the White Paper’s proposal to peg rent increases to the Property Price Index, which would be followed by Government’s consideration of capping rent prices. Consequently, the Faculty for Social Wellbeing recommended measures to monitor and discourage potential abuse during the transition period occurring between the publication of the White Paper and implementation of the finalised Act. Aspects at risk of abuse during the said period include rent prices, contract duration and stability, as well as evictions - whether these would be legally forced or occur by lessees giving up on unaffordable leases. Homelessness, eviction, undesired uprooting, insecurity, substandard dwellings and un-homeliness are minefields in politics of housing. Preventive and responsive policy-making calls for empirically informed policy, for policy that is based on rigorous research. This should include action research, longitudinal research, and tracer studies. Updated and specialised demographic research that accounts for household demographics and composition is also a must to plan affordable and sustainable housing, particularly in view of the rise in divorce and separation rates and related rise in single parent and reconstituted families. Equity-inspired politics and policies need to safeguard shrinking cohorts of economically and socially disadvantaged persons from being considered as negligible not just numerically, but also literally. Investment in research is key to counteract speculative evaluations, political footballs and reactionary (rather than responsive) politics and policy-making. 43

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TOTAL EMPLOYMENT AT A STABLE 59 PERCENT RATE The rate of employment among people aged 15 and over stood at 59.4 percent between July and September, up by 0.2 percent from the previous quarter. The rate was 59.3 percent in the third quarter last year, according to figures by the National Statistics Office. Three-fourths of people aged between 15 and 64 were in employment in Q3 2020, with a rate of 80.8 among men and 65.5 percent among women. The biggest share of persons in employment was observed in the 25-34 age group. Just under 230,000 held full-time jobs in the period under review while slightly more than 30,000 had part-time jobs as their primary employment. Sell-employment accounted for 16.1 percent of main jobs. Professional workers made up the largest group of employed persons, making up 21.0 percent of all occupations, followed by service and sales workers with a further 18.8 percent. Skilled agricultural, forestry and fisheries workers account for 0.7 percent, the smallest share.

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Corporate DispatchPro LABOUR SUPPLY SURPASSED 235,000 BY MID-2020 Labour supply stood at 235,309 in May 2020, up by 7.9 percent compared to the same month the previous year. Data by the National Statistics Office shows that registered full-time employment also grew in the twelve-month period, rising by 6.7 percent to reach 230,900 gainfully occupied. Between May 2019 and May 2020, the rate of persons in full-time jobs increased by 7.3 percent among women and by 6.3 percent among men. People in part-time employment decreased by 8.6 percent from 64,175 in May 0219 to 62,661 a year later. At the same time, however, part-timers with full-time jobs increase by 5.1 percent to a total 30,591. The number of self-employed also went up by 2,523 people. Employment rose in both public and private sectors, with an increase of 3.3 percent year-on-year in the former to a total of 49,504 public sector workers. Registered employment in the private sector reached 181,396, an increase of 7.6 percent compared with May 2019.

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TRADE DEFICIT SLIMS DOWN TO €38M IN NOVEMBER The balance of imports and exports registered a deficit of €2.0 billion between January and November 2020, a decrease of €1.578 billion compared with the same period the year before. Figures for November by the National Statistics Office show total imports of €365.2 million and total exports of €326.7 million, closing at a deficit of €38.4 million – the narrowest yet in 2020. Corresponding figures for the same month in 2019 stood at €495.6 million in imports and €401.7 million in exports. Mineral fuels, lubricants, and related materials experienced the sharpest decrease in value in November in both imported and exported goods, with imports falling by €79.7 million and exports by €54.1 million. Over the eleven months from January, the largest decline in imports was registered in machinery and transport equipment (-€1.3 billion) while mineral fuels, lubricants, and related materials contributed the biggest drop in value of exports (-€0.4 billion). Just under 53 percent of total imports between January and November came from the EU, but the value of €2.56 billion represented a decrease of €0.51 billion from the same period in 2019. On the other hand, imports from the UK and China increased by €0.98 billion and €0.10 billion, respectively. Exports to India grew by a third over the same period from 2019 to reach €21.2 million, the largest increase recorded. Meanwhile, exports to Italy registered the steepest decline, falling from €274.8 million in 2019 to €145.4 million in 2020. 49

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MALTA REGISTERS HIGHEST PRODUCER PRICE INCREASE IN EU Industrial producer prices in Malta rose by 1.8 percent year-onyear in November 2020, bucking the trend across the European Union. Figures by Eurostat shows that Hungary and Slovenia were the only other two member states to record an increase (both +1.1%) in the same period as EU producer prices fell by an average 1.8 percent. The energy sector was the only downward trend in the bloc, as prices declined by 7.5 percent from November 2019. Durable consumer goods, on the other hand, contributed the highest increase, surging by 1.5 percent in the same period. Compared with October 2020, industrial producer prices increased by 0.4 percent in both the EU and euro area, but no change was observed in Malta. France and Denmark registered the highest month-on-month increase, 1.7 percent both, while Ireland and Slovakia experienced the sharpest decrease, falling by 1.4 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively. All industry sectors in the EU except capital goods (-0.1%) recorded an increase from October to November. Energy prices soared by 1.4 percent, the highest increase among industrial groupings.

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CURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCE REGISTERS €100 MILLION DEFICIT IN Q3 The current account of the balance of payments in the third quarter 2020 recorded a deficit of €100 million, down from a €300 million surplus registered in the same period a year earlier. At the same time, however, figures released by Eurostat show that the deficit was lower than the €300 million registered in Q2 2020. As a whole, the current account balance in the EU reached a surplus of €75.6 billion between July and September 2020, equivalent to 2.6 percent of total GDP, a decrease from the €87.6 billion registered in the previous quarter (2.9% of GDP). In the third quarter 2019, the bloc recorded a surplus of €100.3 billion, making up 2.9 percent of total GDP. Malta was one of eight EU members to turn a deficit in Q3, with France registering the largest deficit in value terms (-€11.4 billion). Germany, on the other hand, recorded the biggest surplus among the other nineteen economies (€62.9 billion), followed by Italy (€25.3 billion) and the Netherlands (€17.0 billion). 51

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Corporate DispatchPro DENISE GRECH

Malta News ROUNDUP The government launched a new wage supplement scheme for businesses covering the period until the end of March. The revised system, which applies to all sectors, will be calculated on the basis of sales performance affected by the pandemic. The Chamber of Commerce warned that closure of schools would have a far-reaching impact on students and argued against complete virtual schooling. Teachers were calling on authorities to reconsider opening schools after the holidays amid a surge in Covid-19 cases. Air Malta announced that it will operate 19 weekly return flights as part of its â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;lifeline scheduleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; offering links to vital points across Europe. The timetable will remain in place until the end of February, depending on developments.

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Electricity from renewable sources amounted to eight percent of the total energy mix in Malta in 2019, the least among EU members where the average stood at 34 percent. The share was a slight improvement from 2017, which reached 7.7 percent. The Chamber of SMEs reports that the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;absolute majorityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; of businesses in Malta had to shift online or offer delivery service to cope with the effects of the pandemic. Chamber president Abigail Mamo said that most companies carried out major investments over the last year. The president of cyclistsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; advocacy NGO Rota, Michelle Attard Tonna, slammed government policies that ignore the needs of non-car road users. Attard Tonna said that infrastructural projects prioritise private cars over alternative means of transport.

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Finance Minister Clyde Caruana said that the global economic fallout for the coronavirus is much more devastating than the 2008 recession, adding that it took the EU eight years to start its way out of the financial crash. Gozo Channel made more than 8,000 trips in the fourth quarter last year, 5.8 percent more than the same period in 2019. Total passenger traffic and car crossings, however, both fell by over a third compared with the previous year. Malta will be allocated â&#x201A;Ź42 million from the Brexit Reserve Fund, expected to be disbursed this year. The funds, which still require green-lighting by EU institutions, will be used to support business in the sectors most affected by the UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s departure from the bloc. Malta recycled just over 19 percent of its plastic packaging waste in 2018, the worst performer in the EU for the second consecutive year. Eurostat figures for the same year, show an average rate of 41.5 percent plastic waste recycling of the EU.

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Corporate DispatchPro KEITH ZAHRA

TRADE

EU conferred more powers to protect its trade interests The European Parliament has approved the strengthening of the socalled enforcement regulation, which allows the EU to protect its trade interests against partners acting illegally. These changes will allow the Union to introduce countermeasures when it obtains a favourable ruling from a dispute settlement panel of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) or in bilateral and regional agreements, when the other party fails to cooperate on the adjudication of the dispute. The scope of the regulation has been widened from disputes on goods to those involving services and certain intellectual property rights, including European trademarks, designs and geographical indications. The latter account for a large and growing share of world trade and are covered by international trade agreements. Going forward, the Commission will examine breaches that negatively affect workers or the environment in a trade context with the same attention as breaches of market access. Enforcement measures will apply in this field as soon as trade agreements allow.

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Corporate DispatchPro KEITH ZAHRA

TAXATION

Commission launches a public consultation on the digital levy The European Commission has launched a public consultation on a new digital levy. This initiative aims to ensure fair taxation in the digital economy, while at the same time contributing to Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recovery. Fair taxation and ensuring that Europe is fit for the Digital Age are top priorities for the European Commission, as stated by President von der Leyen in her Political Guidelines. Tax systems have been lagging behind global technological developments over the past number of years. This has resulted in digital companies paying much less tax than they should. The COVID-19 crisis has also exacerbated this situation as it has accelerated the transition towards a more digital world and boosted profits and revenues for many online companies. The digital levy would help to ensure that EU rules are fit for purpose in the digital economy, and that companies, whether digital or not, compete in Europe on fair terms, and in doing so contribute to the recovery. The launch of the consultation follows the mandate given by the European Council in July 2020 to come up with a proposal for a new own resource by June 2021. The levy will be designed in a way that is consistent with the ongoing work at the OECD, and in the G20, and will be compliant with WTO and other international obligations.

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Corporate DispatchPro KEITH ZAHRA

HEALTH

Commission sets out key actions to beat Covid-19 The EU executive set out a number of actions needed to step up the fight against the pandemic. Among the key recommendations, it called on Member States to accelerate the roll-out of vaccination across the EU: by March 2021, at least 80 percent of people over the age of 80, and 80 percent of health and social care professionals in every Member State should be vaccinated. Moreover, the EU wants Member States to have vaccinated a minimum of 70 percent of the adult population by summer. The Commission also calls on Member States to continue to apply physical distancing, limit social contacts, fight disinformation, coordinate travel restrictions, ramp up testing, and increase contact tracing and genome sequencing to face up to the risk from new variants of the virus.

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Corporate DispatchPro KEITH ZAHRA

PRESIDENCY

Portugal sets out Presidency’s priorities Portugal has taken over the Presidency of the European Council for the fourth time from January 2021. Setting out its priorities for the upcoming six months, the Presidency said that it will be especially important to strengthen Europe’s resilience and its citizens’ confidence in the European social model, promoting a Union based on shared values of solidarity, convergence and cohesion – a Union capable of coordinated action to recover from the crisis. Its key areas of action will be as follows: • •

•

To promote Europe’s recovery, leveraged by the climate and digital transitions To implement the Social Pillar of the European Union as a key element for ensuring a fair and inclusive climate and digital transition To strengthen Europe’s strategic autonomy keeping it open to the world

Portugal last held the Presidency in 2007, during which time the Treaty of Lisbon was signed.

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Corporate DispatchPro BY FABIO JAMES PETANI AND MANLIO GRAZIANO VIA REUTERS

A geopolitical reading of fear In his 2009 book The Geopolitics of Emotion, Dominique Moïsi divided the world into three emotional regions: the territory of hope (emergent countries), the territory of humiliation (the world of Islam), and the territory of fear (the old powers, also known as “the West”). A lot has changed since 2009. According to Moïsi, the territory of fear is inhabited by those “who are apprehensive about the present and expect the future to become even more dangerous”. Perhaps today we should realize that fear has conquered the world. Otherwise put, we live in a time, which is spatially organized by globalized fear, and this, politically speaking, is not a good omen. The old powers remain the pioneers, so to speak, of this globalized emotion. The concern for the present and the conviction that the future may only get worse have been materializing for decades now in two areas of mass behavior, the nature of which is intrinsically antisocial: the explosion of public expenditure (and debt), and the drop in birth rates. The connection is that when no good is expected to come from the future, it is better to spend everything immediately, even what you do not have. Similarly, it is better not to have children, who would be plagued by the burden of debts developed with such nonchalance. In the territory of fear, the cry of “every man for himself” echoes in sinister ways. A few days after the arrival of the pandemic in France, President Emmanuel Macron qualified the “return of fear” as an opportunity to rediscover solidarity and “human values”.Yet nature and history suggest otherwise: rarely does fear allow us to reconnect with “human values”. To take refuge from danger is human only because it is a spontaneous reaction of organisms,

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Corporate DispatchPro guided by the instinct of self-preservation. Such an individualistic form of resilience often lacks constructive, collaborative features; when running away from danger, it is easier to run past (rather than rescue) your neighbor. Why did the prevailing optimism of the 1950s and 1960s look confidently at the future, producing more than was consumed and resulting in a baby boom? Because post-war reconstruction was made of “economic miracles” that made life easier and more prosperous. During the trente glorieuses (the “30 glorious years”, the idiom used for France’s economic boom), experience taught us we could quickly move from worn shoes to a bicycle to a motorcycle to a compact car. Then we bought cars big enough for the family and used them to reach tourist destinations, where we would stay in affordable hotels, and where eventually we would buy a holiday home. Everything seemed so easy. The constantly rising living standards and conditions in general was a reality unfolding before our eyes, and something that could not be overlooked. Then, in 1973, the first crisis hit. The myth of an exponential welfare growth started cracking. The first new competitors, at the time cautiously called “newly industrialized countries”, began to loom on the horizon. At the end of the decade, South Korea had become the second shipbuilder in the world, behind Japan, with a production twice as large as Germany, and four times larger than that of the United States. The world domination of the old powers was experiencing a crisis. These powers could no longer exploit all the resources of the world’s market undisturbed, they had to share them with emerging competitors, which meant that also the benefits derived from that undisturbed exploitation could not continue to be the same.

The constantly rising living standards and conditions in general was a reality unfolding before our eyes, and something that could not be overlooked. 67

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Corporate DispatchPro We know that the fear of losing what we have is more anxiogenic than the fear of not gaining assets we do not own in the present. The perception of risk in decision making is relative to the present condition, and depends on past experience, making humans more loss averse, as the Nobel Prize–winning prospect theory has shown. What a geopolitical reading adds to this awareness is that such a fear of losing what people think belongs to them creates enraged reactions. It prompts the need to rely on leaders who promise to give citizens back what was taken from them (or what people believe was taken away from them). People therefore entrust their destinies to whomever promises to give their countries back to them, or make them great again. Even better if these miracle pushers publicly mock or attack the social groups presumed to be the key responsible for our anxieties: the immigrants, Muslims, Jews, large corporations, the rich, the Freemasons, Wall Street, Big Pharma, the globalists, Bill Gates, the Vatican… you name it. The 2008 crisis and especially the following slow and incomplete recovery have transformed social fear in a political weapon in the hands of voters. Brexit, the election of Donald Trump of 2016, the Italian elections of 2018, are just some examples. Joe Biden won the 2020 US elections with more than 81 million votes, but despite all the scandals and the first of two impeachments, Trump still got 74 million. India, the Philippines, Brazil, Russia, Venezuela and, to a certain extent, also China have abandoned the territory of hope. The attempt of Muslim countries to break free from the territory of humiliation was frustrated by the bloody repression of various versions of the “Arab spring”. Everyone converged toward the territory of fear. Thucydides, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes and many others explained how fear is a tool for princes to control their subjects. Today, fear has become the dominant sentiment of subjects, who expect miracle recipes from their princes. But those recipes, as we have witnessed in recent years, do nothing more than render the world even more frightening. 69

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Corporate DispatchPro GINA CHON VIA REUTERS

Biden’s $2 trillion rescue tests his art of the deal The next U.S. president has a chance to test his own art of the deal. Joe Biden on Thursday announced an ambitious stimulus plan, including additional $1,400 payments for individuals. It also includes liberal causes like boosting the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. With the slimmest Democratic control of a 50-50 Senate, Biden will have to compromise. He said the United States needs to act to prevent people from going hungry and being evicted from their homes. He wants to give additional checks to those making up to $75,000 a year, on top of the $600 Congress passed in December. Supplemental jobless benefits would also increase, to $400 a week. Biden’s vice president, Kamala Harris, is set to cast tie-breaking votes if the Senate splits on party lines starting next week. However, most meaningful legislation needs 60 votes in the 100-member chamber to overcome a so-called filibuster, which allows senators to prevent a vote if they continue speaking for long enough. The ailing economy, newly hurt by a surge in Covid-19 infections, bolsters Biden’s case. Weekly unemployment claims jumped by 181,000 to 965,000 last week. In December, the country lost 140,000 jobs, reversing the recovery that had been under way. Republican Senator Marco Rubio and others in his party have already said they support increasing direct payments. Ratcheting up minimum wages and other broad progressive measures will be a harder sell. Biden’s plan also doesn’t include any tax increases or other ways to pay for the aid. That could irk Republicans who rediscover their belief in fiscal discipline under a new president. It’s also unclear whether moderate Democrats like Joe Manchin, who has expressed concern about federal debt, will be on board with the full package.

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Corporate DispatchPro Unlike his predecessor, Biden has embraced working with the opposing party and his campaign made much of his long history in Washington. But even since his stint as Barack Obamaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vice president, divisions have intensified, evidenced by the storming of the Capitol building last week by Trump supporters. Biden will have to give up some of his wish list, and for much of the rest he will have to prove that reaching out to political opponents is not just a quaint idea from a bygone era.

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Corporate DispatchPro KAREN KWOK VIA REUTERS

Shared scooters jump into a profitable future Electric scooters are not kidsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; toys anymore. The pandemic has helped turn twowheeled transportation into an essential part of urban traffic. More cities are also allowing them on the street. That has given startups which offer shared scooters in Europe a new lease of life. Companies which let anyone with a smartphone rent a motorised scooter for short trips were already grappling with high operating costs, concerns about safety and intense competition. Then the pandemic hit. In March 2020, U.S. operator Bird laid off a third of its staff. Rival Lime in May accepted a cash infusion from Uber Technologies at a 79% lower valuation, according to The Information. But social distancing has convinced more city dwellers seeking an alternative to public transport to try the battery-powered two-wheelers. Major cities including London, New York and Paris legalised e-scooters, while limiting the number of shared operators through licensing. Voi Technology, a Swedish startup that has won nearly twothirds of city licences in Europe to date, said the number of rides increased by 85% year-on-year in the three months to November. Even after the pandemic ends, McKinsey expects global usage of shared e-scooters to grow by 12% compared to pre-crisis levels. While demand picks up, costs have come down. One of the biggest expenses for operators is fixing, recharging and relocating their e-scooter fleets. Voi, Lime and Berlin-based Tier have developed swappable batteries, which can halve maintenance and relocation costs. The result is that the businesses are becoming profitable. Users typically pay a one-off charge of $1 to unlock the device, and then

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between 10 cents and 20 cents per minute. If each e-scooter is used for three rides of 30 minutes a day, the operator can earn up to $20 a day. In this optimistic scenario, companies can recover the cost of a $500 e-scooter in less than two months, assuming costs swallow half that revenue. Voi and Tier, which raised $250 million from investors led by SoftBank Group in November, valuing it at almost $1 billion, were both profitable in June. Lime achieved positive EBITDA in the three months to September. Scooters remain a seasonal business, though, with usage diving in winter. Daily revenue in some cities is much lower. More riders also mean increased concerns over safety, which could lead regulators to revoke licences. Even so, shared scooter operators are on the right track.

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CorporateDispatch PRO Edition 16

Articles inside

Communique

Biden’s $2 trillion rescue deal

News Roundup

Shared scooters jump into future

A geopolitical reading of fear

Malta Insights

Housing in Malta

Eight years of Brexiting

Governing the EU-UK cooperation

The calm during the storm

Honesty is the only policy

The world in pictures

A rocky road to the White House

A great deal of expectation