Background information

COVID-19 had a marked negative financial impact on several sectors in Malta. By means of a tripartite agreement, a package of measures to save jobs and organisations was agreed and announced by the Government on 24 March 2020. Amongst the measures in this package, wage subsidies were offered to sectors which were worst hit. During a 'mini budget' announced on the 8 June 2020, which aimed to regenerate Malta's economy, government announced another package of measures. Amongst them was a measure to encourage construction companies to modernise their equipment.

Content of measure

This measure was announced with a package of measures by government on the 8 June 2020. The aim of these measures was to regenerate Malta's economy following the initial COVID-19 quasi-lockdown phase.

This measure aimed to provide an incentive for construction companies to purchase new, more efficient and environment-friendly machinery. The aim was to lessen the negative impact of the industry on the environment, as well as improving efficiency and reducing costs. Government pledged €4 million for this purpose, where any construction- related business can receive support of up to a maximum of €200,000.

Despite its announcement in June 2020, further information on the measure is yet to be published (September 2020).

Use of measure

The measure is yet to be implemented and therefore no information on its use is yet available.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Sector specific set of companies	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government	National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Consulted	Consulted
Form	Direct consultation outside a formal body	Direct consultation outside a formal body

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Unknown
• Main level of involvement: Unknown

Involvement

By means of a tripartite agreement, a package of measures to save jobs and organisations was agreed on 24 March 2020. This was the third but most significant package of measures announced by the Government. Following this agreement, social partners remained in direct contact with the government highlighting their proposals of what was felt was still necessary to save the Maltese economy and jobs. In view of this, on the 8 June 2020, the government announced a 'mini budget' to help the Maltese economy to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Essentially, this was the fourth package of measures announced by the government. The current measure formed part of this package.

With regards to this specific measure, the Malta Developers Association (MDA) had lobbied the Malta Enterprise to introduce such a measure.

Views and reactions

The fourth package of measures, of which the current measure formed part of, received public support from an array of social partners. Those positive and vocal about it were primarily business associations, including the Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber of SMEs, the Malta Employers' Association, the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA), and the Association of Catering Establishments. Whilst it did not specifically mention this measure, the Malta Developers Association (MDA) also stated that it was in agreement with the package of measures announced in June.

Sectors and occupations

This case is not occupation-specific.

Sources

• 01 July 2020: Modernisation of equipment - construction (covid19.maltaenterprise.com)