Over 2,500 foreigners have employment licence

At the end of last year there were 2,591 foreigners with a valid employment licence, 1,006 of whom were from European Union countries.

Between May last year, when Malta became an EU member, and last month 722 work permit applications were received, the manager of European Employment Services (Eures) in Malta, Rafael Scerri, said.

Speaking during a seminar organised by the Employment and Training Corporation (ETC) - within which the local branch of Eures operates - Mr Scerri said the highest number of applications were received by British people, followed by Germany and Italy.

There were a total of 76 EU citizens registered as self-employed with the ETC since May - the majority in the tourism industry, he said.

Eures is a European job portal which makes it easier to find information on jobs and learning opportunities in other European countries. It brings together the European Commission and the public employment services of EU countries, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland.

EURESco representative Carla Rafael explained that Eures links together the public employment services to support labour market mobility between member states. It also supports cooperation in frontier zones level to develop cross border labour markets.

However, she explained, Malta does not yet have a cross border partnership.

Michael Parnis, from the General Workers' Union, said he could not understand why this was the case, to which ETC chairman Robert Tufigno said that work on the cross border partnerships would start soon.

Eures subsidises the operations in the member states through its €16 million budget. Ms Rafael explained that each member state has to submit an annual subsidiary request to get the funds.

Mr Scerri said that the subsidy plan for 2004-2005 was submitted in January last year and Malta received €62,905, which amounts to 95 per cent of the whole expenditure. The subsidy plan for 2005-2006 was filed last month and a confirmation is expected toward the end of March.

Ms Rafael said that one of the Eures guidelines was that all job vacancies should be accessible through the network by the beginning of this month. Although there was a little delay with regard to some countries, Malta was doing very well.

The local branch of Eures has been up and running since last May. Through the Eures network the ETC is now contributing to the provision of services offered throughout the EU. Since it was set up, 1,670 Maltese nationals and 240 foreigners contacted Eures and 80 Maltese people were given placements abroad through the network.