Through its Economic Research and EU Affairs Unit, Malta Enterprise has in recent months continued to ramp up its efforts to strengthen its engagement on European affairs. 

ME’s strategy in this area is fourfold: ensuring that policy designed at an EU level safeguards Malta’s interests, maximising awareness about opportunities available at an EU level, acting as a point of contact with its client base on EU-related information and leveraging EU networks.

Malta Enterprise works continuously with both government and private sector stakeholders on the different dossiers that are currently being discussed between the co-legislators. 

Dossiers that Malta Enterprise is currently following carefully include the Foreign Direct Investment Subsidies proposal, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, the Chips Act and the EU Green Deal. 

In following on these dossiers, the EU Affairs Unit works closely with the Policy Unit at the Ministry for Environment, Energy and Enterprise and Malta’s technical attaches in Brussels, in particular Peter Sant from the Competitiveness Industry and Innovation Unit.  When reviewing European legislation, ME always gives particular attention to the unique specificities of the island’s industrial and services-based players. This contributes towards retaining our attractiveness as an investment destination. 

“We believe that there are new opportunities on the horizon”

Particular attention is given to SMEs that form the backbone of our economy. Malta’s competitiveness is impacted by its small domestic market, insularity and peripherality, among other factors. Therefore, positions submitted on EU dossiers and policies pay particular attention to these realities that, at times, can be underestimated by other member states. 

As an agency, we maintain regular contact with industry to ensure that what is being discussed at EU level is being filtered to businesses. In fact, ME organises information sessions for its customer base, such as the recent event on the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). 

In its work on the CSRD, ME has been actively lobbying to ensure that the concept of proportionality applies particularly for small- and medium-sized enterprise by seeking to keep them out of scope while advocating for a phasing-in approach for enterprises that are within scope. 

It is expected that a final political deal will be reached between the co-legislatures by the end of June. The first delegated acts on the actual reporting standards would be published by April 2023. 

Another important dossier that ME is actively working on is that concerning the foreign subsidies proposal. Malta believes that this dossier is important to ensure that there is a level playing field between European and non-European operators within the internal market for the EU to remain an attractive and competitive destination for foreign direct investment. As part of the EU discussions, the national authorities have been actively lobbying to ensure that there is legal certainty for the current stock of foreign direct investment and that the retrospectivity powers of the Commission were limited to five years instead of the original 10 years of the proposal. An information session on the EU foreign subsidies proposal is being planned this September.

Malta Enterprise understands that businesses are experiencing challenging times.  The pandemic and the war have forced businesses reshape their strategies, but we believe that there are also new opportunities on the horizon. 

Josephine Vassallo Parnis is head, EU Affairs, Malta Enterprise

The corporation, including through its EU Affairs Unit, will continue to play an active role in the policy being designed at an EU level and to continue to voice our particularities as an island and to protect our economy. 

Our EU affairs team can be contacted on euaffairs@maltaenterprise.com.

Josephine Vassallo Parnis is head of EU Affairs at Malta Enterprise