ISSUE 08 I SEP - NOV 2011
THIS ISSUE
business SMEs in Malta speak about the opportunities and obstacles they encountered when seeking to establish themselves within the European Single Market.
page 10
business agenda
NEWSPAPER POST
IRELAND IN THE EU Once referred to as the Celtic Tiger, Ireland still plays an important economic and political role within the European Union.
See full story on page 16
THE Official Business publication of the Malta business Bureau
NEW EU budget: malta negotiating to retain net recipient status interview Dr Robert Visser the newlyappointed Director of the European Asylum Support Agency speaks about the Agency’s role in coordinating asylum and migration policies across Europe.
page 29
environment How the Energy Efficiency Directive will have a direct impact on the business community.
page 37
eu policy The EU’s Posting of Workers Directive has come under the spotlight recently, but what are the main issues under discussion and how will they affect employers?
page 41
In an interview with this publication, Malta’s Permanent Representative to The European Union, Ambassador Richard Cachia-Caruana, has stated that Malta’s priorities for the EU budget will include “working towards our eligibility for the convergence objective of the Cohesion Policy, the continued reform of the Common Agricultural Policy to ensure fairer distribution of the EU’s resources and an Own Resources system that is linked as closely as possible to the Gross National Income of each Member State.” Malta’s Ambassador to the EU also stated that if Malta can no longer qualify under the Convergence Objective, due to the country’s economic growth in recent years, the Maltese government will “work for
an allocation under the ‘transition regions’ objective, that reflects our development needs and ensures Malta’s position as a net recipient of the EU Budget.” Ambassador Cachia-Caruana said that he expects some contentious issues to arise during the budget negotiations, particularly with regards to ‘Own Resources’, which will establish how the EU Budget is to be financed. He stated that “the proposals to introduce a tax on the financial transactions and a modernised VAT system are controversial and will certainly be contentious points for many Member States, including Malta.” According to Ambassador Cachia-Caruana, another difficult aspect in the negotiations may emerge on the overall
size of the Multiannual Financial Framework. “Various Member States have, even prior to the publication of the package, made it clear that the size of the budget will be given a specific focus in the negotiations given the current economic climate,” he stated. Nevertheless, Ambassador
Cachia-Caruana made it clear that the “poorer Member States must continue to be helped to ‘catch up’ with the richer ones” and that each must be given sufficient flexibility to channel funds to particular areas in line with their particular socio-economic priorities. See page 5 for full story
SWIFT ACTION NEEDED TO RESTORE CONFIDENCE IN THE EURO AREA Speaking to Business Agenda, economist Dr Gordon Cordina has stated that “markets are displaying nervousness about the euro zone and this volatility is not helping to improve the already delicate situation.” He also stated that “swift and bold action is required to restore much needed confidence in the euro area.”
Dr Cordina also said that that the debt crisis has shown the importance of having sustainable public finances and it has also unmasked the fallacy that an increasing deficit and debt are something not to be worried about. He maintained that “while fiscal consolidation through austerity mea-
sures is needed to rein in the growing deficit and debt, such measures are, however, impinging negatively on an already weak recovery,” he explains.
through the exposure of financial institutions to this debt and that, as such, a thorough review and strengthening of European banks is also needed.
He also stated that a debt restructuring process can have repercussions on other European countries and the euro zone as a whole,
See page 13 for full story