MEP prevails in bid to prevent explosion in costs

The internal market committee of the European Parliament yesterday approved amendments to a new EU directive regulating the manufacture of fireworks, avoiding a drastic increase in the cost of production which would have negatively affected Maltese fireworks factories.

The unanimously approved amendments were spearheaded by Labour MEP Joseph Muscat following various meetings conducted during the past months with the pyrotechnic association,Ghaqda Piroteknika Maltija, and internal lobbying with members of the European Parliament's internal market committee.

Both the government and the Nationalist MEPs supported these amendments.

Through the approved changes, certain tough rules will now not be applicable for fireworks produced for village feasts and other traditional activities. Safety regulations will still be tightened, however.

According to the original proposal, known as the directive on the placing on the market of pyrotechnic articles, all fireworks manufactured in the EU would have had to be certified by a competent authorised authority with a common "CE marking".

This directive, originally intended for commercial manufacturers, would have significantly pushed up production costs for the local non-commercial producers.

The manufacture of fireworks in Malta is generally carried out by licensed manufacturers as a hobby and as a non-profit contribution towards village feasts.

According to the vote taken yesterday, these rules will now exclude institutions in Malta and others in southern Mediterranean member states.

The approved amendment states that "in view of religious, cultural and traditional festivities in the member states, fireworks built by the manufacturer for his/her own use in the territory where they are produced, are not considered as being placed on the market and do not, therefore, need to comply with this directive".

Labour MEP Joseph Muscat welcomed the compromise.

"We wanted to safeguard our traditional interests but at the same time make sure that safety rules are still being applied and even increased.

"In fact, the directive includes the need that from now on Malta will have to keep a database with all the information regarding the manufacturing of fireworks and the incidents that may happen from time to time."

The European Parliament is expected to approve the new directive.