Background information

A series of measures to aid businesses impacted by COVID-19 were announced by the Prime Minister, Robert Abela, on 27 April 2021. Many of these focused on the extension of measures already in place, such as those that provide subsidies for organisations' electricity and rental bills. Amongst these measures, was a one-time grant for businesses which were forced to remain closed after 10 May 2021 by the Health Authority.

Content of measure

Businesses made to remain closed after 10 May 2021 as per the Legal Notices issued by the Superintendent of Public Health, and were in receipt of the state's Wage Supplement, were offered a one-time grant of €1,000 to reduce the impact of this forced closure.

The grant is administered by the Malta Enterprise, Malta's economic development agency, tasked with attracting new foreign direct investment as well as facilitating the growth of existing operations.

An email is to be sent out to eligible organisations, with a link to a simple application form. Amongst the information that must be provided is the amount of De Minimis aid received by the organisation in the current and previous two fiscal years.

No further information is available, including when this grant will be disbursed.

Use of measure

No information 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	Unknown	Consulted
Form	Not applicable	Direct consultation outside a formal body

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

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: Sectoral or branch level

Involvement

The involvement of social partners in the development of this specific measure is not known, however the measure was announced along with a package of measures which aimed to stimulate economic activity. In relation to the announced package of measures, a number of employer associations highlighted how they had been in regular consultation with the government and that the package of measures reflected their input. These included the Chamber for SMEs, the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry (known as the Malta Chamber) and the Gozo Business Chamber.

Views and reactions

Several Employer Associations commented on the package of measures of which the current measure formed part of. No specific mention was made of the current measure, however the social partners' comments on the package of measures was favourable. These included: the Chamber for SMEs, the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry (known as the Malta Chamber) and the Gozo Business Chamber.

Sectors and occupations

This case is not occupation-specific.

Sources

• 27 April 2021: Times of Malta - €20m in new COVID-19 assistance to businesses (timesofmalta.com)
• 20 May 2021: Malta Enterprise - One time refund scheme (covid19.maltaenterprise.com)
• 01 August 2021: Malta Enterprise extended the deadlines for the one-time grant and rent refund scheme (www.smechamber.mt)