NEWS | Wednesday, 14 May 2008

One EU, one market

One of the great advantages of being an EU member state is the benefit one gets from its internal market, made up of 450 million people, all of whom trade under the same rules. The EU single market works in the same way the market works for the people of say Mellieħa placing their custom with those of Żabbar.
The fact these are two different and distant villages does not mean they have their own governing trade laws and structures. They are both villages in Malta. The same rules apply for both. It’s the same with the EU.
The EU‘s single market directives apply to all Member States. Or at least they should. In certain respects there is still some distance from making the Mellieħa - Żabbar argument a dead ringer for what happens inside the EU but this is not for lack of effort and expense. And again, we are getting there in no small measure.
On 14 May, Charlie McCreevy, the EU Commissioner in charge of the EU Internal Market and Services will fly in for a two day meeting with the Maltese authorities. The EU has no bones to pick with Malta for not seriously complying with internal market rules. There are, however areas where greater synchronisation may – and I use that word purposely - need tweaking. McCreevy will certainly learn much on Malta’s efforts, its problems, and the successes it has had since becoming an EU member state four years ago. Malta is a country whose input on how the internal market works can only be proportionate to its size - but it has made considerable progress in areas of immediate interest to McCreevy. He will be able to see that for himself.
On the other hand the Maltese authorities may want to raise with McCreevy their concerns with the turbulence upsetting the world’s financial and credit markets; and more probably they would sound their worries over the impact price increases are having on rudimentary products - including food and clothing to mention but two. All is of huge interest to McCreevy. Why? For the simple reason his portfolio has much to do with whether the internal market drags its feet in releasing to EU citizens the potential it offers.
The EU’s single market was set up to guarantee the free movement of people, goods, services and capital amongst Member States. The fact Malta operates one of Europe’s increasingly successful financial centers is of great interest to the EU. This has been attracting international trading companies in great numbers. Additionally the Malta Financial Services Authority keeps a watchful eye on local banking operations.
Malta’s is unquestionably a hugely respectable financial regime with years of successes under its belt: but the EU is constantly beefing up its structures to make cross border trading daily less difficult. That means constantly refining payment practices and post payment regulations.
Several other issues engage McCreevy, whose job is to ensure payment fraud is kept at bay, that payments within the EU area are speeded up and carried out without difficulty (the Single Euro Payments Area, commonly known as SEPA, which allows people use their credit and debit cards anywhere within the EU is one relatively recent triumph), that bank charges do not run riot. McCreevy’s job is to ensure compliance with EU rules and greater integration between Member States.
In the end the whole idea of creating a single market for 450 million people is to increase growth and jobs and make life better for all of us - in the same way the people of Mellieħa place their business with those in Żabbar for the simple reason it benefits both.

Stepping up access to information
Greater access to information, which takes place under the European Transparency Initiative, is always one of the Commission’s guiding lights even though much is never enough. When Jose Manuel Barroso took over as President of the current Commission he made easier access to documentation, and greater clarity, one of his priorities.
Now the Commission is proposing changes to make the Institutions open their doors wider to those seeking more information on how the EU functions. The idea is for people to know better what is going on. The reform will also reflect decisions taken recently by the European Court of Justice, reactions to a Green Paper published last year and recommendations made by the European Parliament, all committed to allow people find out more how the EU operates. This means EU Institutions will now have to raise their information access bar a couple of notches in handling information queries from EU citizens.
Margot Wallstrom, the Commissioner in charge of Institutional Relations and Communication Strategy says this is all about the citizens’ right to be better informed which, she added, was fundamental in any democratic system. It is all about heightening outreach and understanding, she adds.
There has been, in the past, controversy over information access and this despite repeated changes for the EU to become more transparent. The new proposal takes access to information a few important steps forward.
The new rules will put more emphasis on how the institutions are to actively distribute information. There is here, perhaps, an important issue involved of particular interest to environmentalists everywhere not least here in Malta.
The reform being proposed aligns the EU regulation on information access to the provisions of the Aarhus Convention signed in Denmark in 1998. This was a highly significant United Nations initiative which gave citizens a number of rights on how to deal with their environmental concerns. These include the right to receive information held by public authorities, information on the state of the environment, polices, measures taken, the state of human health and safety wherever this can be effected by the environment, the right to participate in environmental decision making processes and much more.
The environment remains a top drawer issue in Malta and certain decisions taken by MEPA, the regulator, often appear controversial - probably because information that backdrops decisions, to be prudent, is often not fully explained to the public.
The ballgame is now about to change and there can be no boycotting by government agencies of NGOs that step up to the plate trying to keep our environment healthy. The new rule on access spells out its intentions quite clearly - going as far as defining what constitutes a document and when this can be downloaded as a printout on an electronic file.
There are of course limits and the proposed text explains properly how documents related to ongoing investigations are to be protected. This gives more legal clarity but will not lead to fewer documents being freed for scrutiny. The reform also suggests increasing access to names and functions of persons acting in a professional capacity, to documents from Member States and to documents which the Institutions’ submit to the Courts.
So the first time somebody tells you the EU lives in a closet, point him towards this article.

Making people understand your qualifications better
Imagine you run a business in Malta and somebody from Hungary applies for a job but you can’t make out what his qualification certificates are all about. Conversely the same can happen to you if you were to apply for a job in say, France. Who in France will know exactly what your certificates, issued by say MCAST, mean in terms of whether you are fit for the job or not.
Well, not to despair. Help is at hand in the form of the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) which was recently adopted by the European Parliament and the Council. This now opens the way for Member States to promote lifelong learning and mobility by making it easier for employers, companies, individuals and institutions to understand and compare people’s qualifications.
Qualifications and how one assesses certificates has been a headache for years. People who graduate in one subject in one Member State have been facing difficulties getting their certification to be properly understood and appreciated elsewhere in the EU. Does a degree in economics from Italy equal that of one from Oxford University? And again how is an employer to be assured the two degrees are actually similar? The European Qualifications Framework will now do the job by creating a reference framework. This will relate qualifications with the framework benchmarks. It will translate qualifications to make them more readable and understandable to whoever needs the service. This will speed up mobility for those seeking to relocate from one country to the other.
It also makes life long learning easier by waving on people with the right qualification to continue their education in another country. Someone with a BA in economics from the University of Malta can read for a BSc in for example Poland or Spain.
In effect, the framework applies to qualifications obtained in all sectors of education, including general education, higher education and vocational training similar to those available at MCAST.
For those who might fear this is for people with higher education only, the framework actually covers eight levels of education from compulsory to post doctorate level.
No one who applies for a job abroad therefore need fear certificates, whatever these may be, will not be properly understood. The European Qualifications Framework will do that for you and your prospective employer. The framework is a great step forward both for those who seek jobs elsewhere and those who wish to recruit workers from other Member States.
I know we’ve had a couple of issues on this front in Malta. So if you feel I can be of help in ironing out qualifications issues please write in.

This column, with weekly updates, is available on Head of EC Representation Joanna Drake’s blog, at http://ec.europa.eu/malta/blog/index_en.htm