It’s official! Roberta Metsola elected as President of the European Parliament

Jan 18 2022

It has just been announced that Roberta Metsola has been elected as the first Maltese woman European Parliament President.

Not only did she win on her 43rd birthday, but she is the first woman to hold the position since 2002. She beat three other candidates in the first round of voting, getting the required 50%+1 majority from all MEPs.

With the support of three of the biggest EU political parties, the EPP, the S&E and Renew, she won 458 votes of 616 eligible in parliament.

Addressing the parliament, she expressed her gratitude and honour as to winning the position. She highlighted several areas where she wishes to work on improving such as equality, economy and climate change.

She pledged to work on reinvigorating the passion for the European Parliament, finding a common ground between the economy and the environment, as well as transitioning into a post-pandemic world.

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A promise to prioritise diversity and tolerance by Roberta Metsola

Jan 18 2022

Outlining her priorities ahead of the European Parliament presidency election, MEP and potential president Roberta Metsola highlighted modernising parliamentary practices and encouraging diversity and tolerance as top of the agenda.

Metsola stated that the president must work at bridging differences and holding the centre, citing several divisive issues which she herself managed to create consensus across political parties.

‘I know what it is to be the underdog’ she said, referencing how she is a woman hailing from a small Mediterranean island. ‘I will not shy away from difficult decisions and will always – always – represent the views of this House.’

Paying tribute to the late president David Sassoli, who passed away last week, Metsola pledged to build upon the collaborative efforts he brought to the EP.

Facing competition from three other candidates – ECR’s Kosma Zlotowski, Greens candidate Alice Bah Kuhnke and the Left’s Sira Rego – Metsola would be up for a renewable period of two and a half years if elected.

Were Metsola to win the election, she would be doing so on her 43rd birthday, whilst also being the youngest ever European Parliament President. She would also be the first woman elected as EP in 20 years since 2002.

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Maltese cafe slapped with €2,000 fine for Starbucks copyright breach

Jan 18 2022

Starbucks, the cafe’ giant based in Seattle, obtained two trademark infringement judgements in Malta. This comes as a St Paul’s Bay cafe’ operating under the name ‘Strabuono Coffee’ was ordered to stop using that name as well as to destroy any merchandise or signs which bear the logo. The cafe’ was slapped with a €2,000 fine.

The two cases were filed in 2017, with Strabuono’s lawyer Matthew Bondin arguing that the emphasis in the logos was different as the Maltese cafe’ had a lion’s head and not a mermaid. It was also argued that the names of the cafes were in different languages and had completely different meanings. The leading product, Strapuccino, was also, arguably, not a spin on Starbuck’s trademark ‘Frappucino.’

It was instead a deconstruction of the Italian word cappuccino, melded with he name of the cafe’s own name. Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti, who handed down judgement in both cases, made reference to EU judgments on similar trademark infringement cases filed by Starbucks against other companies. He noted that the EU’s General Court had stated that a low degree of similarity between two trademarks was enough for it to find for the plaintiff.

The Maltese company’s logo had similar colour schemes and shared other characteristics with those trademarked by Starbucks. The court ruled that there was enough visual and conceptual similarity that it constituted a breach of European Union trademark protection legislation.

The court ordered the defendant company to stop from using the infringing marks and signs and to destroy any material its possession which contain the words Strabuono and Strabuono Coffee. The word Strapuccino was ruled to be ancillary and secondary.

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Photo Source: Restaurant Guru

850 flight cancellations for Malta Airport’s first quarter of 2022

Jan 18 2022

The Malta International Airport revealed on Tuesday 18th January that despite the number of passengers travelling through its gates improved considerably last year over 2020, the numbers remained far lower than pre-COVID figures.

Any progress was significantly stalled by the new variant Omicron in the last two months of last year. The consequences spilled into 2022, as some 850 flights were cancelled for the first quarter of this year.

An increase of 45.3% over 2020 was noted for last year, with 2,540,335 passengers having travelled. This was however just a recovery of 34.8% of 2019 passenger numbers.

Italy and the United Kingdom were the leaders in terms of travel traffic, with both enjoying a 19% market share. Germany, France and Poland followed suit, air travel gaining momentum in the second half of the year.

Passenger traffic in fact tripled over during the third quarter due to consumer confidence and increased stability. October performed the best for Malta’s airport, with more than 428,000 passenger movements reported.

MIA CEO Alan Borg said that this could be attributed to delayed demand for leisure travel as measures continued to ease. The emergence of Omicron changed the course of this resurgence, with the ‘introduction of stricter and uneven requirements across Europe at the end of 2021 [already leading] to the cancellation of around 850 flights for the first quarter of 2022.’

As summer 2022 is expected to be characterised by fiercer competition as vaccination uptake in Europe increases, Borg urged the government to shift its focus on a post-COVID strategy.

This would give the industry confidence to invest in businesses. Borg also highlighted how by aligning Malta’s entry requirements to EU regulations, the government would be instilling confidence in travellers to book their upcoming trip.

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