ME in cross-border services pilot project

Malta Enterprise is taking part in a European pilot project through which all the procedures and all other information businesses require when setting up in another EU country is readily available online, facilitating start-up and touchdown services and increasing transparency for businesses, particularly SMEs.

The pilot project, Simple Procedures Online for Cross-border Services (SPOCS), seeks to improve the competitiveness of European businesses by reducing the legal and administrative barriers they have to overcome when setting up in another member state.

With a focus on improving efficiency, electronic procedures and information provided under the pilot project are interoperable across borders. It lists the corresponding documents businesses would need when these differ between member states.

Launched in May 2009, the project is now being expanded to include 29 partners from 16 countries, increasing not only the geographical coverage of the project but also its visibilty and sustainability.

The SPOCS project is expected to pave the way for the next generation of Points of Single Contact (PSC) for business across Europe, as required by the Services Directive, and builds on the solutions developed in the various member states as they implement the directive.

The Services Directive aims at facilitating the exercise of freedom of establishment for service providers and the free movement of services while maintaining a high quality of services, thereby releasing the untapped growth potential of services markets in Europe.

Under the directive, PSCs have been set up in each member state to act as a single contact point where SMEs can easily obtain information, submit applications and get a response without having to deal with a multitude of authorities at different levels.

As from 2010, Malta Enterprise has been designated as the PSC for Malta. It signed 20 service level agreements with the various government departments and agencies to give its clients a more efficient and professional serivce.

Malta Enterprise is currently working to sign another three service level agreements that would enable it to provide most of the services required by businesses in one place, effectively setting up the one stop shop which shall be located at the corporation’s new premises in Guardamangia later this year.