Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/416739
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER 2014 5 When Del- fosse replied on 15 March, she was confused by the introduction of You Rock Ltd. Upon showing Kimberley, the Mal- tese lawyer reprimanded Zammit for leaving the subject line 'copy/paste proposal' when he forwarded it to Delfosse. "Mela you left the title of e-mail 'coy/past (sic) proposal'???" she wrote on 15 March at 4:45pm. "I trust you fol- lowed up the e- mail with a phone call to explain to her as we dis- cussed." She then guided him how to write the email: "Here's a sug- gested reply: Inge hi, I should clarify. I am offering these services alone and personally. I use the company below as my consultants on EU law and public affairs (the bios of the com- pany directors will tell you why – huge expe- rience in Brussels). I simply wanted to give you options regarding invoicing should you need to bill an estab- lished company with expertise in EU affairs for all or part of the cost and there- fore sent you additional information which is usually required by Brussels based consultancy firms at least in our experience. If you do not need this, please feel free to discard." They also spoke telephonically at 4:51pm. That same night at 11:32pm, Zam- mit sent Kimberley's reworded text to Delfosse. On 16 March, Delfosse emailed Zammit to inform him about "bad rumours" in Brussels, so that they could chat on the telephone. In a second telephone call, Delfosse recorded Zammit's chat in which a request was made for €10 million for a meeting 'between my boss and your boss'. Kimberley and Zammit kept in contact right up until May, when the investigation started. Zammit has filed a formal com- plaint to the Belgian data protection commission against Delfosse and Swedish Match vice-president Fre- drik Peyron, for having recorded the telephone conversation without his knowledge. The recording was later passed on to Peyron, who gave it to Michel Petit – a former head of legal services un- der José Manuel Barroso – who at the time of the recording was a lobbyist for tobacco company Philip Morris, as an employee of Clifford Chance lobbyists. Philip Morris and Swedish Match have a business relationship selling snus in the United States. A second telephone call occurred on 3 July 2012, this time by Delfosse on instigation of OLAF personnel. Zammit has already said that the call was an attempt at entrapment. OLAF's investigation was later criticised by its supervisory commit- tee, which said that OLAF listened to private telephone conversations be- tween witnesses, an action that con- travened Zammit's human rights. "The recording of a telephone con- versation in the presence of an offi- cial of a public authority, acting in the performance of his duties and mak- ing a crucial contribution by making available his office, his telephone and his tape recorder represented an in- terference in that person's right to respect for her correspondence." mvella@mediatoday.com.mt News CONTINUES FORM PAGE 1 The removal of the eco-contribution will be wel- comed by the small business cham- ber GRTU, which has called on the government to review the obligation of businesses to pay the eco-contri- bution. "We want government to keep its promise of avoiding putting honest businesses at a disadvantage," the GRTU said on Friday. "Instead government should imple- ment the Waste Electrical and Elec- tronic Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive), which is very similar to the eco tax. Malta has already been given a number of infringe- ments in relation to the WEEE Di- rective and leaving it on the shelf is no longer an option." The removal of the eco-contribu- tion will also address complaints by small businesses of unfair competi- tion from traders importing con- sumer goods from Sicily by catama- ran, and online retail, which did not incur any eco tax. In tomorrow's Budget, Scicluna will also say that the government is not against fiscal measures that in- fluence consumer behaviour in safe- guarding the environment. Another measure that will be an- nounced is an incentive for compa- nies to employ 2% of their workforce from among individuals with a dis- ability. The legal obligation has actu- ally been in place since 1967 but has not been respected – it applies to companies which employ more than 20 people. Tax incentives will now be offered to those companies which employ disabled individuals. The tax credit will not exceed more than €4,500 per individual. Those companies which fail to employ the quota requested will be required to make a contribution of €2,500 per person not employed, capped at €10,000 per company. Budget 2015 – €4,500 tax rebates on employment of disabled workers contested Kimberley email After the meeting with Swedish Match, in March 2012 the company You Rock Ltd - owned by Matthew Kimberley - paid Silvio Zammit over €3,000 Kimberley chides Silvio Zammit in this email for leaving 'copy/ paste proposal' in the subject header when he sent a second lobbying attempt to Estoc