BA to operate Gatwick-Malta flight British Airways said that as from March 30 it will operate the daily service to London Gatwick which at present is handled by its franchisee partner GB Airways. The route will be serviced by B737 airliners.

The full-service flights, which will include complimentary food and drinks, business and economy class cabins, leave Malta at 5.25 a.m. with the return flight departing Gatwick at 9.55 p.m

James Stagno Navarra, British Airways manager for Malta said: "We have a long history of serving both business and leisure customers flying from Malta to London and we are confident that, with our full onboard service and low prices, this route will continue to be very popular". Flights are available to book from today at www.ba.com.

GB Airways' franchise agreement with BA ends in March. n October 2007, the British budget airline easyJet bought GB Airways for £103.5 million. EasyJet said on Wednesday it will be operating flights from Manchester and London Gatwick to Malta as from March 30.

The ABL EU Update

Issue No. 26

EU Legal Developments this month...

Commission rules against MasterCard interchange fees

The European Commission decided that MasterCard's multilateral interchange fees (MIF) for cross-border payment card transactions with MasterCard and Maestro branded debit and consumer credit cards in the European Economic Area (EEA) violate EC competition rules. MasterCard's MIF is a charge on each payment at a merchant outlet. This decision was taken on the basis that MasterCard's MIF, a charge levied on each payment at a retail outlet when the payment is processed, inflated the cost of card acceptance by retailers without leading to proven efficiencies. The Commission ordered the card company to remove its MIF in cross-border transactions within six months or it may face the possibility of daily penalties amounting to 3.5% of its global turnover. . In its response to the decision MasterCard stated that it will appeal against the Commission’s decision. This ruling will also affect other players in this market since it will serve as a benchmark, both for the credit card operators as well as national competition authorities in Europe and other countries investigating national fees.

New EU rules on VAT on services

The Council of the European Union finally agreed on three pieces of legislation which aim to ensure that VAT on services accrues to the country where consumption occurs, and to prevent distortions of competition between member states operating different VAT rates. The new rules will require taxation for VAT on business-to-business supplies of services at the place where the customer is situated, and no longer at the place where the supplier is located. The general rule will continue to apply for business-to-consumer supplies of services where the place of taxation will continue to be that where the supplier is established. However, certain exceptions will apply to this rule to reflect the principle of taxation at the place of consumption. Such exceptions will apply to certain business-to-consumer supplies particularly to telecommunications, broadcasting and electronic services. To simplify VAT arrangements in this regard, the system will be based on the creation of "one-stop shops" so that businesses only have to fulfill their tax obligations in the country where they are established. The agreement was reached on the basis that the new rules regarding business-to-consumer supplies of telecommunications, broadcasting and electronic services and the one-stop shop scheme will be deferred to 2015 rather than 2010 as in the case with the other rules and the member state of establishment will, until 1 January 2019, retain a proportion of VAT receipts collected through the one-stop scheme.

Press release - Economic and Financial Affairs Council

More protection for EU consumers

On 12 December 2007 new EU rules on misleading advertising and aggressive sales methods entered into force. Fake “free” offers, prizes which don’t exist as well as adverts ordering children to buy something now form part of an extensive “black list” of schemes which are banned by the new Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. This Directive aims to boost consumer and business confidence in the Single Market so people can fully benefit from shopping cross border. According to the EU’s Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva, such rules are amongst the toughest on misleading and pressure selling in the world. However, only 14 of the 27 member states have implemented the EU rules within their national law. Yet to do so and facing EU legal action are Britain, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania and Spain. The Commission stated that consumers in the above mentioned countries shall still be able to call on EU law and enforcement bodies while judges should make up for any regulatory gaps by interpreting and applying the existing laws in the light of the new standards. Failure to do so would lead to the EU intervening directly.