Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1304419
2 NEWS 29.10.2020 ADDRESSING the European Parliament, Labour MEP Alfred Sant said the EU is now at a critical juncture and cannot af- ford to retain and implement existing Eu- ropean fiscal rules on the same basis as pre-COVID times. e Labour MEP said the time has come for a "root and branch review, no holds barred" for a new set of simplified, sustainable and more relevant rules to promote optimal economic and financial governance within the EU as a whole. Sant said he voted in favour of the European Parliament Report on the Economic Policies on the Euro area in 2020 because, despite the compromis- es it contains, the right focus has been retained on a strong social and environ- mental commitment that must guide all approaches to the major economic is- sues the EU is facing. e file is part of the European Semes- ter process that provides a framework for the coordination of economic poli- cies across the EU. e European Com- mission's comprehensive 'Recovery Plan for Europe' upgrades the EU's political and economic importance significantly. Within this framework, the European Semester will play a substantial and co- ordinating role in providing an imme- diate economic policy response to the COVID-19 crisis. Sant said the report covers more than adequately the on-going pandemic and the impact it is having on the Union's fis- cal and economic governance. "e pandemic arrived at what was al- ready a delicate situation where many were openly doubting whether the 'old' fiscal rules, as enshrined in the SGP, still made sense. COVID-19 exacerbated this dilemma, not least by ensuring that there was quick consensus that at least for a while, Stability and Growth Pact guidelines were to be thrown out of the window", Alfred Sant concluded. Despite the support of the Group of Socialists and Democrats in the Europe- an Parliament, the report was not adopt- ed by the plenary with 435 votes against, 218 votes in favour and 33 abstentions. Sant calls for a review of European fiscal rules Alfred Sant MATTHEW VELLA GOOGLE searches for 'sports betting' are currently highest in Malta, a ranking published by TopRatedCasinos.co.uk has revealed. To find the sports betting capitals of Europe, TopRatedCasinos inputted sev- eral keyword variations into the key- word analytics section of SEMrush. 27 EU countries were inputted and analysed individually and searches per capita were considered, before final re- sults were listed, to make findings more accurate. Interestingly, TopRatedCasinos' re- search found that although Google Trends shows an increase in sports bet- ting in Hungary, Hungarians are among the least interested in placing a bet on sporting events, ranking 20th overall for interest around the sports betting topic, with only 0.43 searches on average per 1,000 population. TopRatedCasinos found average monthly searches like "sports betting" are currently highest per capita in Mal- ta. In fact, in the last 30 days, there have been 2,420 individual searches around the topic, which equates to 5.48 search- es on average per 1,000 population. is is followed by high search results per capita in Ireland and Cyprus, with 16,610 and 3,470 sports betting search- es on average per month, respectively. At the other end of the scale, there were countries like Slovakia, Germany, and Poland. In Slovakia, there are 1,690 searches (0.31 searches per 1,000 population) a month containing keywords like "sports betting." While in Germany and Poland, we find interest around the sports betting topic to be seemingly very low in accordance with population size. Germany for in- stance only had 0.29 searches on aver- age per 1,000 population. To find out the sports betting capitals of Europe, TopRatedCasinos inputted several keyword variations into the key- word analytics section of online visibil- ity and marketing tool SEMrush. e variations included: "sports betting", "sports gambling", "bet on sports", "on- line sport bet" and "online sports gam- bling". Results for all 27 EU countries were inputted and analysed individually before final results were listed. All 27 EU countries were ranked in accord- ance with searches per capita, to make findings more accurate. Gambling in Malta Betting and gambling in Malta have been popular in Malta for centuries, with lotto becoming the predominant game in the 18th century when it was first introduced by the British. In 1922, the first Lotto Regulations were published, based on the Italian lotto, and the game became a weekly appointment for many Maltese, even during the dark days of World War II. And gambling really took off with the onset of the Internet, with the Public Lotto Ordinance originally regulating and licensing gambling sites. ose reg- ulationas have since been updated nu- merous times, culminating in the set- ting of the Malta Gaming Authority to oversee online gaming in Malta. Land-based gambling focuses around lotto and its derivatives, horse racing, sports betting through U-bet (with foot- ball being a top favourite) and scratch and win tickets. Maltese punters also have access to practically all online gambling and sports betting sites. And with Malta be- ing a member of the EU, Maltese gam- blers are, for the most part, unrestricted with regards to which payment method they can use when depositing money into their betting accounts. Malta is Europe's sports betting capital with most online searches