MALTA - TAIEX WEEK 20-24 NOVEMBER 2000

The opening session of TAIEX Malta Week will take place on Monday 20 November at 8am, at the Ellul Mercer Hall, the Mediterranean Conference Centre. Members of all TAIEX client groups – industry associations, trade unions, local councils, and NGOs – are cordially invited to attend. The session will consist of an explanation of the TAIEX Office, a description of its services and client groups, a presentation of its database, an overview of the financial and administrative arrangements for 2001, followed by a discussion and questions. It will be addressed by His Excellency M. Didier Destremau, the French Ambassador to Malta, and chaired by Mrs Lea Verstraete, Head of Unit, the European Commission (General Employment, Industrial Relations, Social Affairs).

There will be a further 12 sessions at various locations during TAIEX Malta Week, which takes place between 20 and 24 November. These are Social Partners, Maritime Safety, Consumer Protection, Progress Database, Public Procurement, Waste Management, Audit Office, Standards, Justice and Home Affairs, Excise Duties, Intellectual Property, and Financial Transactions. All sessions are organized by the relevant Malta Government Institutions or offices, and supported by the European Commission's TAIEX Office, with the exception of the session on waste management, which is fully organized by TAIEX.

TAIEX is the Technical Assistance Information Exchange Office, set up in January 1996 by the European Commission. It is supported by a PHARE multi-country programme, an forms part of the Enlargement Directorate. Its services are complementary to those offered by other PHARE programmes, and its mandate is to provide technical assistance at all levels of national administrations, parliaments, and business associations. TAIEX support is available to Malta, Cyprus, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic, and Slovenia.

TAIEX operates as a ‘one-stop-shop' for short-term technical assistance with the implementation of the Acquis. It acts as a broker for the transfer of know-how from public and semi-public officials in EU member states, to their counterparts in candidate/associated countries of the EU. To meet these needs, the TAIEX office has established an extensive network of contacts between EU member states, European Commission services, and other EU institutions, including the European Parliament, the Committee of the Regions (COR), and the European Economic and Social Committee (ECOSOC), and the relevant organizations in candidate/associated countries.

TAIEX offers support through expert missions, seminars, workshops, and study visits. TAIEX Malta Week is part of this programme. Its main beneficiaries are: government offices and NGOs, parliaments and legislative bodies, professional and commercial associations, trade unions and employers; associations, and local councils. TAIEX does not advise private citizens, nor individual companies. Requests for advice and assistance can be sent directly to the TAIEX Office by mail or fax, or channeled through Malta's representation in Brussels.

TAIEX services are, in principle, free of charge.