The director general of the Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise, Kevin J. Borg, has attended the general meeting of the Directors/Secretaries of Eurochambres – the Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry – of which the Malta chamber is a member.
Mr Borg also represented the Chamber at the Plenary Assembly of the Eurochambres member organisations which was held on 8 June at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) building in Brussels. This meeting was addressed by the EU Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, Charlie McCreevy.
Commenting on the Services Directive, Commissioner McCreevy said that he was delighted that ministers were able to reach political agreement on the proposal for a Services Directive, and that the result was a balanced and workable text that will deliver substantial benefits to the services sector.
He added that the important thing now was to work to finish the second reading as soon as possible, so that everyone would be able to reap the economic benefits in terms of growth, competitiveness and jobs.
As for the ongoing review of the single market, Mr McCreevy added that despite the achievements of 1992, the way forward was to embark on yet another ambitious programme of legislative reform.
Addressing Commissioner McCreevy, the president of Eurochambres, Pierre Simon said the European Chambers of Commerce would have wished to see a more comprehensive final text of the Services Directive, but they were pleased that the political process had been concluded nevertheless.
He also insisted that to realise its potential, it was crucial that the directive were properly interpreted and implemented by member states and that Eurochambres encouraged the commission to act strongly against any member states that failed to respect the philosophy of the directive and that hindered the opening of their markets.
Eurochambres requested the commissioner to adopt various initiatives in the implementation of the directive, including that of ensuring that single points of contact deliver full benefits; improving clarity and legal certainty; maintaining commitment to pre-notify; carrying out a full impact assessment; as well as conducting a comprehensive ex post assessment of the directive.
Mr Kevin J. Borg said that the Malta Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise fully subscribed to the position adopted by its European counterparts, adding that it was conducive towards less bureaucratic and administrative burdens and more competitiveness for Maltese and European business.