Vassallo defends decision to stop book "donations"

Parliamentary Secretary Edwin Vassallo yesterday defended the government's actions over the library ship Doulos, saying the ship's agents had been advised to stop the donation of books against payment because it went against the law.

Speaking to The Times, Mr Vassallo said that once the floating bookshop did not have a trading licence, the practice of 'donating' books against payment could not be tolerated.

He said that over the past few days he had received reports that visitors were being asked to give a donation equivalent to the value of the books. He had also seen reports in The Times which reproduced signs on board the Doulos asking the public to give a donation to the value of books taken from the onboard fair.

The Doulos had offered visitors Lm5 worth of books as a gift, against a 'voluntary' donation.

However, readers of The Times called to say that even before the signs were put up, they were asked to make a donation to the value of the books selected, rather than being left to decide how much to give.

The organisers of the Doulos bookshop issued a statement saying they were unable to continue with the provision of books on board the ship since they had received orders to immediately stop this.

Mr Vassallo said the law was there for everyone: "It's true I am risking my popularity, but I'm determined to do my job properly. Once they haven't got a trading licence they cannot carry on with these transactions. I took it on myself to ensure that the law is observed. If you are asked to make a donation to the value of the books, then it's not a donation but another way of getting payment for the books. I would have expected to be criticised had I allowed the law to be broken. Nobody is above the law and we have a responsibility to demonstrate that this is the case."

Mr Vassallo said this was not about protecting anyone: "On the contrary, it is about ensuring that the internal market is not disrupted. We have the responsibility to ensure that there is a level playing field in the market and that is why we have taken action.

"When we say that there is free trade within the EU it does not mean a free for all. There are rules and regulations and free trade is held within those parameters to ensure that the market is coordinated, organised and fair for all the players."

Asked to comment about the fact that Doulos representatives were insisting that they had never been stopped from trading in any other country, Mr Vassallo said: "First of all, our market is very restricted. If the Doulos sells thousands of books in two weeks we would risk a negative impact on our small market. This does not apply if the same number of books is sold in, say, Germany or Italy, because their market is huge.

"Secondly, I don't know what happens in other countries but I wonder whether anyone checks the operations of this floating bookshop. What I can say is that whoever operates in this country has to do so within the parameters of our laws."

He also said it was not fair for certain people to compare the prices on board the Doulos with the prices in local bookshops. "Such comparisons do not make sense because we are not comparing like with like. A book which is sold in a Maltese shop has to go through a full cycle of transactions. We cannot say the same for the books sold on Doulos."

Mr Vassallo said that throughout the EU membership referendum campaign, the government had always insisted that even when Malta joined the EU that did not mean that EU businessmen would be allowed to come here and do what they wanted.

"Nothing is automatic and the market has to be organised. We are testing our legislation to ensure that the law is there for everyone and that nobody is put at a disadvantage."