The decision for shops to remain closed tomorrow, the feast of St Paul’s Shipwreck, was taken by Cabinet, The Times has learnt.
Sources said the decision was taken following a request by the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises – GRTU for the government to waive the €700 fee usually applicable to businesses that decide to open on Sundays and public holidays.
Apart from February 10, the GRTU also asked for a special permission to open on March 31, June 7, June 29, September 8 and September 21. Cabinet has not decided on these dates.
A spokesman for Trade Minister Jason Azzopardi said the government had no comments to make on the matter.
“In spite of last year’s commitment (to decide on a case-by-case basis), the government has failed to decide in time to waive the fee for (tomorrow), an important shopping day in view of Valentine’s Day,” the GRTU said.
It has consistently lobbied for shops to be allowed to trade on several public holidays, insisting shop owners should be free to decide for themselves whether or not to open on public holidays, while respecting Maltese traditions, such as Good Friday and Christmas Day.
It made a similar request last year for shops to be granted a special exemption to open on May 1. On that occasion, after the request was turned down, GRTU director general Vince Farrugia had described the fee as a “tax” and a “money-making exercise”.
Whether shops should open on Sundays and public holidays was always a sticky issue. The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry said yesterday it was against a concession for shop owners to open tomorrow or on any public holiday or Sunday.
It said that this was consistent with its stand on the matter in previous years including in April last year when another call was made for shops to open on May 1.
“(This) stand is derived from the fact that opening on Sundays and public holidays will increase costs for shop owners and operators but the long-term effect on turnover is bound to be negligible.
“The position is, therefore, being taken in the interest of the shop-owners’ community – most of whom are SMEs and microenterprises – and their employees.”
It said public holidays and national feasts were days of rest for both employers and their employees “and this should be respected”.
When contacted, Mr Farrugia said the Malta Chamber was probably the only one in Europe that strove for legal restrictions and penalties on trading.
“The time has come for trusting responsible traders to decide for themselves whether they want to trade or not. Restrictions that made sense yesterday do not make any sense in an age of e-commerce,” he said.
“Those who want to trade on public holidays legally can as long as they pay. This is discriminatory against small businesses. This is where the GRTU differs. We do not want discrimination,” Mr Farrugia insisted.