Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/922844
maltatoday SUNDAY 7 JANUARY 2018 12 News MASSIMO COSTA MALTA should hope for Mat- teo Renzi to lead the next Italian government, former foreign af- fairs minister George Vella said in comments to MaltaToday. As Italy enters an election cam- paign and the maverick Five Star Movement (Movimento Cinque Stelle) appears as a frontrunner, Vella said it would be best for Malta to see a coalition led by Renzi's Democratic Party, as Mal- ta had a good relationship with the ex-premier and current Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni. "It however looks very likely that there would be no clear winner in the election, nor is it possible to say for certain which types of coalitions could be formed," Vella said. Asked about the possible im- pact of the Italian elections in March on the migration situation, Vella said that if the Northern League and other right- wing parties received a lot of support in the election, this could increase existing anti-immigration sentiments in Eu- rope. Echoing Vella's sentiments, econ- omist Philip von Brockdorff said that an uncertain Italian electoral result would affect Malta in terms of the migration. "It is in Malta's interest to have a stable govern- ment in Italy, but it doesn't seem like this will be the case," he said. "Migrants from Africa are cur- rently all being taken in by Italy. Parties like the Five Star Move- ment, which is currently the most popular in Italy, are creating anti- European Union views which will create political instability in the Mediterranean, with an effect on Malta," von Brockdorff main- tained. Vella explained that there were already ongoing anti-migration efforts in the Czech Republic, Po- land, Hungary and Austria. A rise in right-wing party sup- port in Italy, a country which takes on large quantities of mi- grants, come the March election, would mean the European Union should seriously rethink its stance on migration, given that a sub- stantial number of countries in Europe would then have rightist parties with a role in government, he said. "It is difficult to predict exactly what will hap- pen. Even if the DP manages to be elected, it is not certain Renzi will be Prime Min- ister, due to party infighting," the former minister highlighted. Expounding more on the eco- nomic side, von Brockdorff said that political instability in Italy, the eurozone's third-largest economy, would create economic uncertainty within the euro area too. "The Italian economy hasn't yet fully recov- ered from the 2008 economic crisis, so pros- pects aren't good for Italy and the euro. The value of our common currency could decrease vis-à-vis other curren- cies such as the United States dollar," he said. "If the euro weakens, that means things like purchasing energy will cost more for Malta," he added. The economist also explained how the current EU economic recovery was very fragile, and one could not exclude that an- other economic crisis could be on the way, albeit possibly not as deep as the 2008 one. Both Vella and von Brock- dorff said that the situation in Germany, where a likely coali- tion between Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union and Martin Schulz's So- cial Democratic Party could take months to form, would only serve to compound issues within the EU. mcosta@mediatoday.com.mt 'Uncertain Italy election could increase anti-migration sentiment' Political instability in Italy might create migration issues, eurozone trouble MS5 founder Beppe Grillo (left) with his party's candidate for prime minister, 31-year-old Luigi Di Maio Former foreign minister George Vella Economist Philip von Brockdorff Big amici: Joseph Muscat (left) with Matteo Renzi MARIA PACE IT is not just children in Malta who seem to be making the most use of public li- brary service. The new royalties scheme for Maltese authors whose books are loaned from libraries has opened up a vital revenue stream for writers, illustrators and story- tellers. But figures published by MaltaToday last month mistakenly inflated the royal- ties paid out to authors and illustrators due to an error made with the data re- ceived by this newspaper. Children's books in 2017 were the most popular loaned books between January and September 2017, as data from the National Book Council shows top authors raking in over €3,000 in lending royalties. Maltese authors are now reimbursed each time their books are loaned out from the 56 public libraries in Malta and Gozo. Children's literature, mainly translations into Maltese, are the most popular by a landslide. The National Book Council implement- ed the remuneration scheme to benefit authors whose books are available for borrowing from Malta and Gozo's pub- lic libraries. The public lending rights scheme reimburses authors, co-authors, illustrators, photographers, and editors responsible for amassing works by several contributors. In cases where a book has two or more authors, including illustra- tors and photographers, payment would be equally divided between the parties. Throughout 2017, spanning from Janu- ary to September 2017, the top ten gross- ing authors were mainly children's au- thors. The highest paid author, children's writer Natalie Portelli, accumulated a grand total of 3,014.71. She was fol- lowed by Trevor Zahra, Clare Azzopardi, Charles Casha and Frans A. Attard. Except for renewals, Maltese books were loaned a total of 45,857 times up between July and September 2017. Top ranking author Natalie Portelli had her books borrowed a total of 18,383 times. Trevor Zahra, who ranked second on the list in terms of lending rights amassed, has the most books available at the library, with a total of 243 books spanning his 50-year career. His books were borrowed a total of 14,677 times during the time. Meanwhile the ninth most popular author, Mark Scicluna, is a former Mal- taToday cartoonist, and an illustrator whose work has featured in many books including Clare Azzopardi's, Maria Fer- riggi's, and Sherise Zammit's. mpace@mediatoday.com.mt Regret the error… book lending rights far lower than published Authors Jan-March April-June July-Sept Total Royalties Portelli Natalie €1031.61 €1027.43 €955.67 €3014.71 Zahra Trevor €891.55 €781.61 €740.69 €2413.85 Azzopardi Clare €520.25 €543.02 €551.76 €1615.03 Casha Charles €215.62 €257.62 €259.33 €732.57 Attard Frans A. €235.42 €191.98 €190.11 €617.51 Spiteri Charles B. €230.15 €196.92 €181.87 €608.94 Cauchi Carmel G. €151.14 €145.93 €201.1 €498.17 Grech Rita €136.06 €126.91 €150.08 €413.05 Scicluna Mark €116.62 €126.34 €157.4 €400.36 Portelli Rachel €130.43 €129 €118.02 €377.45 Authors Jan-March April-June July-Sept Total times books loaned Portelli Natalie 5679 5400 7304 18383 Zahra Trevor 4908 4108 5661 14677 Azzopardi Clare 2864 2854 4217 9935 Casha Charles 1187 1354 1982 4523 Attard Frans A. 1296 1009 1453 3758 Spiteri Charles B. 1267 1035 1390 3692 Cauchi Carmel G. 832 767 1537 3136 Grech Rita 749 667 1147 2563 Scicluna Mark 642 664 1203 2509 Portelli Rachel 718 678 902 2298