Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1513813
4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 31 DECEMBER 2023 Looking forward 2024 MATTHEW VELLA mvella@mediatoday.com.mt CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 In 2024, two other festivities that extend the weekend will be the Sette Giugno commem- oration (7th June) falling on a Friday, and Republic Day (13th December) also falling on a Friday. Only New Year's Day falls on a Monday in 2024, a leap year. The feast of St Joseph (19th March) falls on a Tues- day, while Workers' Day (1 May) will be on a Wednesday, and the feast of the Assump- tion (15th August) will be on a Thursday. Malta has five national hol- idays: Independence Day, Republic Day, Freedom Day, Victory Day, and the Sette Gi- ugno. The rest are religious observances, and the Interna- tional Day of the Worker. Two long holiday weekends in June and December Labour MEP says Commission should review ETS effects on Malta ports Public Holidays Mon, 1 January New Year's Day Saturday, 10 February Feast of St Paul's Shipwreck Tuesday, 19 March Feast of St Joseph Friday, 29 March Good Friday Wednesday, 1 May Workers' Day Saturday, 29 June Feast of St Peter and St Paul Thursday, 15 August Feast of the Assumption Sunday, 8 December Feast of the Immaculate Conception Wednesday, 25 December Christmas Day National Holidays Sunday, 31 March Freedom Day Friday, 7 June Sette Giugno Sunday, 8 September Victory Day Saturday, 21 September Independence Day Friday, 13 December Republic Day LETTER OF INTENTION I, Daniela Pace ID Number 193291M, declare my intention to register for an Employment Agency licence in accordance to article 23 of the Employment and Training Services Act, 1990 (Act XXVIII of 1990). The activities proposed to be carried out are the following: • Recruitment Consultancy • Interviewing, selection and placements of candidates in employment. • Recruitment of persons from abroad to employment in Malta or in an EU member state. • Recruitment of persons in Malta for employment in Malta or in an EU member state. • Advertising of the filling of vacancies. • Keeping a register of applicants for employment. Official Address: 148 DanCon Triq il-Hafur, Attard ATD 3017 LABOUR MEP Josianne Cutajar (S&D) said the Eu- ropean Commission should carry out a review of the effects of its Emissions Trading Scheme on Maltese ports. Cutajar fears the levy on shipping's emissions will lead to hiked consumer prices and warns of "car- bon leakage" as business moves out to north African ports. Cutajar said while the EU's ambitions for climate neutrality were welcome, the resilience of small is- lands in the face of climate change and mitigation measures had to be taken into consideration as well. "The ETS can be a counter-productive tax if our ports – the Malta Freeport namely – suffer a loss of trade that is instead diverted to North African ports. The ETS is intended at reducing carbon emissions, but if the same emissions are simply moving to oth- er ports whilst our ports suffer a loss of business, we should be asking for a review," Cutajar said. She said laws that have negative effects such as "car- bon leakage" in this case, can be put to the EC for a review. "The fact is that business is already moving elsewhere," she said. "I will be putting pressure on the Commission to take action and to make revisions on the negative effects the ETS has on the Freeport, which generates so many jobs and also affects final consumer prices." In January 2024, Malta's maritime sector will see importers levying a €100 'ETS' surcharge on each container on the Genoa-Malta line, a figure expected to escalate to €255 by 2026 amidst Europe's inflation- ary pressures. The European Directive (EU) 2023/959, instituting a CO2 emissions taxation system for the maritime sector, requires cargo ships to incur emissions fees at EU ports. Price increases for transporting containers between Malta and other Italian ports, including Livorno, Salerno, and Catania, will range from €25 to €92 per container. The coverage for emissions under the ETS will in- crement from 40% to 70% in 2025, reaching 100% by January 1, 2026. "Everyone will suffer for it," Nationalist MP Ivan Stellini said, estimating the potential business losses for the Freeport at some €140 million. "You will have ships sailing from the Far East being levied very high rates on their emissions once they berth at the Free- port – potentially a maritime liner company could pay an extra €28 million a year. Additionally, they will pay other fees to sail from Malta into another EU port." Stellini said that such shippers will instead choose ports in Egypt, and then send smaller, feeder vessels to Malta. "But that means less trade coming to the Freeport, which generates 2% of our GDP. And it will lose 155 ports of call that are essential for Maltese exports, incurring extra costs to have shipping go to some other port before sailing into an EU port." Stellini also said that with added time delays on de- liveries, this will mean more costs on stocking, risk and insurance, that will only end up raising consum- er costs. Environment Minister Miriam Dalli has called on the European Commission to carry out a more de- tailed assessment to include more non-EU Mediter- ranean ports under the EU Emissions Trading Sys- tem (ETS) on maritime transport. Dalli reaffirmed Malta's commitment to the meas- ures adopted by the EU to tackle climate change but told the EU Council that potential loopholes leading to unequal level playing field between EU ports and non-EU ports had to be addressed. Wopke Hoekstra, European Commissioner for Cli- mate Action, has said so far that Brussels will con- tinue monitoring and gathering information on the impact of the EU ETS on the overall competitiveness of the EU maritime sector. The articles hereunder form part of a content series called Ewropej. This is a multi-newsroom initiative part-funded by the European Parliament to bring the work of the EP closer to the citizens of Malta and keep them informed about matters that affect their daily lives. These articles reflect only the authors' views. The action was co-financed by the European Union in the frame of the European Parliament's grant programme in the field of communication. The European Parliament was not involved in its preparation and is, in no case, responsible for or bound by the information or opinions expressed in the context of this action. In accordance with applicable law, the authors, interviewed people, publishers or programme broadcasters are solely responsible. The European Parliament can also not be held liable for direct or indirect damage that may result from the implementation of the action. Labour MEP Josianne Cutajar wants the European Commission to analyse the impact a new carbon tax on shipping will have on Malta's Freeport