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21.11.19 5 NEWS A study by the Malta Business Bureau (MBB) has shown 89% of Maltese businesses were bet- ter off since joining the Single Market. e study, carried out by Grant ornton, also identifies the barriers and bottlenecks that exist, while proposing a way forward. "Despite the obvious benefits to Malta and its businesses, we are seeing Maltese businesses struggling to exploit the full potential of the Single Market. Businesses are continuously faced with challenges stem- ming from excessive admin- istrative procedures to legis- lative barriers when accessing markets across borders," MBB President Simon De Cesare said. "For example, 96% of busi- nesses indicated that they wish to see simplification in EU ser- vices regulation, providing evi- dence to a perception that has existed among business-repre- sentative organisations across Europe," he continued. e study also shows that businesses are concerned about the implementation of EU legislation at a national level, with 35% showing dis- satisfaction about ineffective enforcement of EU law in Mal- ta, particularly with regards to market surveillance, and an- other 26% complaining about the inefficiency when it comes to implementation. Between the traditionally strong manufacturing, whole- sale and retail sectors, an av- erage of 20% are not better off since Malta joined the Single Market. ey, along with other sectors of the economy, cite various challenges, such as barriers to trade, administrative burden, issues relating to legislation, amongst others. Compliance costs to sell goods and services to other Member states remain an issue, with overly complex procedures still in place, and a lack of information, and some- times willingness from nation- al governments in being open for businesses from companies based in other member states. Testing, certification, labelling, approval, authorisation proce- dures are fragmented and do not function efficiently. An almost unanimous 96% of respondents said they wish to see simplification in servic- es regulation. "is confirms a perception that we have felt for a long time that at Europe- an and National level, several obstacles remain to providing services to consumers and oth- er businesses. Services regu- lation in the EU remains frag- mented and overly complex, with the requisite procedures proving to be a hindrance and duplicate information often being required by different au- thorities," De Cesare said. 35% have shown discontent about ineffective enforcement of EU law in Malta, in particu- lar with regards to market sur- veillance. 26% have indicated that they are not happy with inefficient implementation of EU rules. EU Directives should be transposed to the least possi- ble extent, with deviation only occurring in order to apply the directive in question to the do- mestic context. e study had three key rec- ommendations, chiefly calling on market surveillance author- ities to have the capacity to ef- fectively monitor and enforce rules set at EU and national level. "It is crucial that all op- erators operate on a fair level playing field, by ensuring that standards such as labelling, and language restrictions are adhered to." e study also said the EU should endeavour to improve the effectiveness of tools in- tended to help businesses and citizens, such as SOLVIT. "SOLVIT can have tremendous potential if used correctly, and if given the right importance by institutions themselves. To ensure effectiveness of the tool, we propose giving an eco- nomic operator the possibility to request the SOLVIT Home Centre to ask the Commission to give an opinion in a particu- lar case, rather than letting the Home Centre decide this uni- laterally. is gives more power to operators seeking the help of SOLVIT, thus increasing trust and confidence in the service. Such tools should also be bet- ter marketed in order to in- crease awareness and usability. Our survey indicates that only 15% are aware of SOLVIT." e consultative process in Malta can also be improved with regards to its timeliness and effectiveness throughout the entire lifecycle of proposed EU rules, from conception stage to the post-facto eval- uation stage. "We believe the effect of this can be extremely beneficial for all parties, with Government getting an ear- ly and accurate snapshot of the positions of stakeholders, which can then be communi- cated in a timely manner in the EU fora." De Cesare said that compli- ance costs to sell goods and services to other Member states remains an issue, with overly complex procedures still in place, and a lack of in- formation, and sometimes willingness from national gov- ernments in being open for businesses from companies based in other member states. "Testing, certification, label- ling, approval and authorisa- tion procedures are fragment- ed and do not function in the same way as a Single Market actually should. Mutual Rec- ognition of compliant products remains a principle on paper but is often a bottleneck in practice." 89% of Maltese businesses are better off since joining the Single Market Economy minister Chris Cardona (left) being presented with the MBB study findings by president Simon De Cesare

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