No. 1073 

INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION APPEALS TRIBUNAL

IT is hereby notified for general information that, in exercise of the powers conferred by the Refugee Act (Cap. 420), his Excellency the President of Malta has approved that the International Protection Appeals Tribunal be constituted as follows up to the 27th August, 2023:

Chairperson

Dr Claudio Zammit, BA, LLD, M. Jur (Eu. Law)

Members

Dr Chris Soler, BA (Melit.), LLD (Melit.), Adv. Trib. Eccles. Melit., MA (Sussex), LLM (Sussex)

Dr Amanda Spiteri Grech, BA, LLD, LLB Theology & Law Public Not.

Mr Christian Camilleri, BEd. (Hons) PSD

Secretary

Mr Charles Cassar, Dip. Lab Stud., MBA(Exec), Cert.Mediator(UK)

18th September, 2020

No. 1074

Majjistral, Nature and History Park Regulations (S.L. 549.48)

Establishment of the Majjistral, Nature and History Park Regulations (S.L. 549.48)

Appointment of the Majjistral, Nature and History Park Management Board

IN terms of regulation 9 of the Establishment of the Majjistral, Nature and History Park Regulations (S.L. 549.48), the Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Planning has approved the appointment of the following persons to serve on the Majjistral, Nature and History Park Management Board.

Chairperson

Mr Saviour Vella

Members

Mr John Buttigieg

Ms Luanne Galea

Mr Jurgen Gatt

Mr Martin Galea

Dr Rudolf Ragonesi

Mr Jacques Azzopardi

The Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Planning has also approved the appointment of Mr Darren Saliba as Secretary to the said Board.

All appointments are effective from the 15th September, 2020, for a period of five (5) years

18th September, 2020

No. 1075

DEVELOPMENT PLANNING ACT (CAP. 552)

Users' Committee of the Planning Authority

IN terms of Article 61(1) of the Development Planning Act, the Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Planning has approved the appointment of the following persons to serve on the Users' Committee of the Planning Authority for a period of two (2) years effective from the 15th September, 2020.

Chairperson

Dr Edward Woods

Members

Ms Marie Barbara

Ms Astrid Vella

Perit Martin Debono

Mr Mario Fava

Mr Christian Vassallo

Mr Sandro Chetcuti

Perit Simone Vella Lenicker

Mr David Mifsud

Mr David Xuereb

Secretary

Ms Doris Farrugia

18th September, 2020

No. 1076

ENGINEERING PROFESSION ACT (CAP. 321)

Engineering Profession Board

IT is hereby notified that the following persons have been elected from among warrant holders to serve as members on the Engineering Profession Board for a period of two years with effect from 1st September, 2020, in terms of Article 6 of the Engineering Profession Act (Cap. 321).

Ing. Fabio Stivala, B.Eng (Hons.), Eur Ing, MIFireE

Dr Ing. Brian Micallef, Ph.D.(Melit.), B.Eng.(Hons.)(Melit.), M.I.E.E.E, M.I.E.T.

Ing. Samuel Bonanno, B.Eng. (Hons)(Melit.), M.Sc.(Melit.) (by Research)

18th September, 2020

No. 1077

Agency for Infrastructure Malta

Completion of Road Formation and Traffic and Parking Suspension

In virtue of Article eighteen (18) of Legal Notice 291 of 2018, the Agency for Infrastructure Malta hereby gives official notice of its intention to complete the formation of:

Triq Sant'Anna, Qrendi (indicated on the site plan on page 8484).

Triq Santa Margerita, Bormla (indicated on the site plan on page 8485).

Vjal il-25 ta' Novembru, Żejtun (indikat fuq il-pjanta). (indicated on the site plan on page 8486).

Any person who is obliged by law to form said road (including by acquiring land necessary for the same formation) has fifteen (15) days from the date of the publication of this notice within which to comply with his obligations at law. In default, the Agency for Infrastructure Malta shall itself proceed with the formation of this road in accordance with its powers at law and at the expense of those persons whose obligation it is to form the road.

The Agency for Infrastructure Malta notifies that from 18th September, 2020, to 31st March, 2021, no parking will be permitted in Triq Sant'Anna, Qrendi, due to road works.

The Agency for Infrastructure Malta notifies that from 18th September, 2020, to 31st March, 2021, no parking will be permitted in Triq Santa Margerita, Bormla, due to road works.

The Agency for Infrastructure Malta notifies that from 18th September, 2020, to 31st March, 2021, no parking will be permitted in Vjal il-25 ta' Novembru, Żejtun, due to road works

Parking of vehicles is not allowed during these days. Vehicles found in contravention to the order of this notice are liable to be towed.

18th September, 2020

Infrastructure charts Gaz 18.9.pdf

No. 1078

THE MINISTRY FOR ENERGY AND WATER MANAGEMENT

Support Scheme for Research and Innovation Projects in the Fields of Energy and Water

IN ORDER to implement the National Strategy for Research and Innovation in Energy and Water (2021-2030), officially launched on 17th June 2020, the Energy and Water Agency within the Ministry for Energy and Water Management has developed this Scheme by virtue of which financial assistance will be provided for research and innovation (R&I) projects in the field of energy and water, in line with the focus of the 2020 Call for Proposals. priority

Applications to this scheme will be received between 18th September, 2020, to the 30th October, 2020. Late submissions will not be considered.

SCHEME

1. Interpretation

“Applicant" means anyone eligible for participation in a Project in terms of the Rules for Participation and who consequently applies for funding under this support scheme. This may refer to an individual entity or a consortium.

“Unsuccessful Applicant" means an Applicant whose application failed to pass one or more of the three stages of the evaluation procedure and whose Project is thus not eligible to receive support under this Scheme.

“Successful Applicant" means an Applicant whose application has passed all three stages of the evaluation procedure and thus whose Project may receive support under this Scheme. An offer of support shall be contingent on the Successful Applicant's ranking and the availability of funds under this Scheme.

“Managing Authority" refers to the Energy and Water Agency, provided that some tasks may be conducted by third parties as contracted, appointed or delegated by the Energy and Water Agency.

“Project Beneficiary" (the Beneficiary) means a successful Applicant who accepted the offer of support for a Project under the 2020 Call for Proposals and has signed the Grant Agreement. This may constitute an individual entity or a Consortium.

“Grant agreement" means an agreement between the Managing Authority and the Project Beneficiary that sets forth the terms, conditions and limitations applicable to a Grant.

“Lead partner" means the Consortium Partner identified as being the partner responsible to ensure the correct execution of project awarded support under this 2020 Call for Proposals who will have joint and several liabilities together with other Project Partners for all the obligations arising from the Grant Agreement.

“Aid intensity" means the gross aid amount expressed as a percentage of the eligible costs, before any deduction of tax or other charge. Aid payable in several instalments will be discounted to its value at the date of award. The interest rate to be used for this purpose is the discount rate applicable at the date of award. The aid intensity is calculated per beneficiary.

“Effective collaboration" means collaboration between at least two independent parties to exchange knowledge or technology, or to achieve a common objective based on the division of labour where the parties jointly define the scope of the collaborative project, contribute to its implementation and share its risks, as well as its results. Contract research and provision of research services are not considered forms of collaboration.

“Consortium" means a group of two or more entities who jointly propose a project and submit an application for funding. One of the partners would be designated as the Lead Partner.

“Arm's length conditions" means the conditions of the transaction between the contracting parties contain no element of collusion and do not differ from those which would be stipulated between independent enterprises. Any transaction that results from an open, transparent and non-discriminatory procedure is considered as meeting the arm's length principle.

“Research and knowledge-dissemination organisation" means an entity (such as universities or research institutes, technology transfer agencies, innovation intermediaries, research-oriented physical or virtual collaborative entities), irrespective of its legal status (organised under public or private law) or way of financing, whose primary goal is to independently conduct fundamental research, industrial research or experimental development or to widely disseminate the results of such activities by way of teaching, publication or knowledge transfer. Where such entity also pursues economic activities, the financing, the costs and the revenues of those economic activities must be accounted for separately. Undertakings that can exert a decisive influence upon such an entity, for example in the quality of shareholders or members, may not enjoy a preferential access to the results generated by it.

“Project period" means the execution period of the project, that is defined by the number of days between the project start date and project end date as indicated in the Grant Agreement.

“Project" an operation that includes activities spanning over one or several categories of research and development defined in the Rules for Participation, and that is intended to accomplish an indivisible task of a precise economic, scientific or technical nature with clearly pre-defined goals. A project may consist of several work packages, activities or services, and includes clear objectives, activities to be carried out to achieve those objectives (including their expected costs), and concrete deliverables to identify the outcomes of those activities and compare them with the relevant objectives. When two or more projects are not clearly separable from each other and in particular when they do not have independent probabilities of technological success, they are considered as a single project.

“Rules for Participation" (the Rules) means the document published by the Energy and Water Agency containing the guidelines and the full set of applicable rules, regulations and conditions applicable in relation to the 2020 Call for Proposals for R&I Projects in the fields of Energy and Water. A copy may be requested by sending an email to (rni-supportscheme@gov.mt). Alternatively, the document shall be available on the website of the Managing Authority (https://www.energywateragency.gov.mt/research-and-innovation/).

“Oriented-basic research" means the work carried out with the expectation that it will produce a broad base of knowledge likely to form the basis of the solution to recognised or expected current or future problems or possibilities.

“Fundamental research" means experimental or theoretical work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge of the underlying foundations of phenomena and observable facts, without any direct commercial application or use in view.

“Industrial research" means the planned research or critical investigation aimed at the acquisition of new knowledge and skills for developing new products, processes or services or for bringing about a significant improvement in existing products, processes or services. It comprises the creation of components parts of complex systems, and may include the construction of prototypes in a laboratory environment or in an environment with simulated interfaces to existing systems as well as of pilot lines, when necessary for the industrial research and notably for generic technology validation.

“Personnel costs" means the costs of researchers, technicians and other supporting staff to the extent employed on the relevant project or activity.

“National Strategy for Research and Innovation in Energy and Water (2021-2030)" means the national strategy published by the Energy and Water Agency which outlines the Government's plan to boost and guide the direction of domestic R&I in the fields of energy and water over the upcoming decade.

“Grant Value" means the total value of the grant funding provided for the Project by the Managing Authority.

“Experimental development" means acquiring, combining, shaping and using existing scientific, technological, business and other relevant knowledge and skills with the aim of developing new or improved products, processes or services. This may also include, for example, activities aiming at the conceptual definition, planning and documentation of new products, processes or services. Experimental development may comprise prototyping, demonstrating, piloting, testing and validation of new or improved products, processes or services in environments representative of real-life operating conditions where the primary objective is to make further technical improvements on products, processes or services that are not substantially set. This may include the development of a commercially usable prototype or pilot which is necessarily the final commercial product and which is too expensive to produce for it to be used only for demonstration and validation purposes. Experimental development does not include routine or periodic changes made to existing products, production lines, manufacturing processes, services and other operations in progress, even if those changes may represent improvements.

2. Overview of the Scheme

2.1 The full set of rules, regulations and conditions applicable to the Scheme established by this Government Notice are laid down in the Rules for Participation, which document shall be applicable to this Scheme in its entirety. Potential Applicants are expected to read through and familiarise themselves with the document in question prior to submitting an application.

2.2 The 2020 Call for Proposals invites applications for financial support, in the form of a grant, for R&I projects in energy and water whose objectives are in line with national policies and seek to contribute in a tangible manner to addressing one of the following:

a) A national policy priority or challenge in the energy and water sectors; or

b) Economic competitiveness and growth in a variety of national sectors, from an energy and water perspective.

2.3 The focus is on projects at oriented-basic research and applied research to experimental design stage, that is projects at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 2-6, with a duration ranging between eighteen and twenty-four (18-24) months.

2.4 Seven overarching topics have been identified as priority areas for support; these are described in the National Strategy for Research and Innovation in Energy and Water (2021-2030). These are as follows:

a) renewable solutions for islands

b) integration of RES electricity

c) energy efficient solutions

d) water use efficiency

e) desalination and water treatment process

f) wastewater treatment and reclamation

g) water friendly urban centres

Preference for financial support will be given to the highest scoring proposals within these priority areas; there is no order of preference of the priority areas. Target projects may fall in a range of disciplines, from engineering and natural sciences to social and behavioural sciences, big data and artificial intelligence.

3. Eligibility

3.1 An Applicant may be constituted of an individual entity or a Consortium. At the time of application, the Applicant must have sufficient capacity with respect to suitable qualified human resources (in addition to those that shall be recruited for the project), appropriate technology acumen and financial standing to undertake a R&I project. At the time of payment of the assistance, the Applicant (in the case of a Consortium, the Lead Partner) is required to have an establishment or branch in Malta.

3.2 The scheme is open to both Applicants who fall outside the scope of State aid and those who fall within the scope of State aid.

4. Financial Support

4.1 The maximum possible funding that can be requested for an R&I Project under this Scheme is €120,000 and the minimum possible funding requested shall not be less than €60,000. The number of Projects which will be awarded funding is subject to the availability of funds, up to a maximum of €425,000, with funds allocated to Projects in order of ranking as per the evaluation process described in 5.3-5.7.

4.2 The aid intensity is determined on an entity basis (not a project basis). Entities that do not fall within the scope of State aid are eligible to receive 100% of funding for eligible costs claimed. The aid intensity for entities that fall within the scope of State aid is determined according to the level of R&I activity being undertaken and the size of the entity, as per the table below.

4.3 In the case of collaborative projects, the maximum funding rate for a specific project will depend on the number and type of collaborating parties, as well as on the categories of research activities carried out and the share of eligible costs borne by each one of them.

4.4 To be eligible for funding, all costs must be incurred during the term of the Grant Agreement. Eligible costs are as follows:

(i) Personnel costs: researchers, technicians and other supporting staff to the extent employed on the project, with a distinction made between existing personnel and any new personnel employed specifically for the Project. Eligible costs for existing personnel shall not exceed 20% of the Project Value. Limits are in place for the number of new personnel employed for the Project, with guidelines for hourly rates included.

(ii) Instruments and equipment: purchase of specialized equipment, including software and datasets, required for achieving the objectives of the Project, to the extent and for the period used for the project. Where such instruments and equipment are not used for their full life for the Project, only the depreciation costs corresponding to the life of the Project are considered as eligible. The depreciation costs must be calculated on the basis of generally accepted accounting principles and verified by a Certified Public Accountant.

(iii) Scientific information: access to scientific information sources including databases and publications, bought or licensed from outside sources at arm's length conditions.

(iv) Consumables: the costs of materials, supplies and similar products incurred directly as a result of the project. The overall value of consumables cannot exceed 30% of the Project Value.

(v) Subcontracted activities: any activity related to the project which is not carried out directly by the Project Beneficiary, but which is carried out by outside sources at arm's length conditions. The overall value of subcontracted activities cannot exceed 25% of the Project Value.

(vi) Overheads: overheads incurred directly as a result of the Project are capped at 5% of eligible costs.

4.5 Funding under this Programme is made available on the basis that the Applicant has not benefited from any other form of assistance for the same eligible costs as those being applied for under this Programme. Furthermore, upon signing of the Grant Agreement, the Project Beneficiary is automatically prohibited from accepting other forms of assistance for the same eligible costs over the Project Period.

5. Application Process

5.1 The application procedure is a one-stage process, where applicants submit a full application at the outset of the process.

5.2 The selection and funding of proposals under this Scheme shall be on a competitive basis.

5.3 Project applications will be evaluated through a three-step process:

1. Administrative compliance: Proposals are checked for compliance with the guidelines detailed in the Rules for Participation and the application submission. Projects that are administratively compliant shall pass to the next step.

2. Content Evaluation: The evaluation board shall evaluate the content of project proposals, which were found to be administratively compliant, based on the criteria specified in the Rules for Participation. Proposals obtaining a mark exceeding 65% in each of the 3 criterions (Excellence, Impact, Implementation) shall pass to the next step.

3. Due Diligence: This step involves a due diligence of Applicants who are found to be administratively compliant and whose proposal exceeds the set thresholds during content evaluation.

5.4 For a project to be eligible for funding it must pass all three steps and eligible projects will be ranked according to the marks obtained in the content evaluation stage.

5.5 Once the evaluation of all applications has been completed, the Managing Authority shall publish the list of project applications which were submitted on the website of the Energy and Water Agency. Projects which are eligible for funding (the Successful Applicants) will be listed in order of the mark achieved during the Content Evaluation; Projects not eligible for funding (Unsuccessful Applicants) will be listed in alphabetical order. The published list of Successful Applicants will be divided into two sections, indicating those Projects which will receive the first offers of support and those Projects on the 'waiting list'.

5.6 Offers of support for their Projects under the 2020 Call for Proposals shall be provided to Successful Applicants according to the rank order and until the funds are either exhausted or until no Successful Applicants remain.

5.7 When the requested Grant Value of the next ranking Successful Applicant exceeds the remaining unallocated funds, an offer of support will be made to that Successful Applicant but up to a maximum of the remaining unallocated funds. Should the offer not be accepted by that Successful Applicant, the same offer of support will be made to the subsequent Successful Applicant, in line with the ranking order determined by the mark achieved during the content evaluation. This process will continue until all remaining funds have been allocated or until no Successful Applicants remain. It must be noted that should a Successful Applicant accept a Grant Value that is lower than the amount requested in the application, the proposed Project cannot be changed.

6. Manner of application and supporting documents

6.1 The application submission is to be sent electronically to (rni-supportscheme@gov.mt) with “2020 Call for Proposals – Application Submission" as the subject. All received applications shall be acknowledged by email. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that a confirmation receipt is provided.

6.2 All applications shall be submitted strictly in accordance with the Rules for Participation and shall include the following items:

Application form;

Plan of project activities, timeframes and deliverables (Gantt Chart);

CVs of key researchers;

Declaration forms;

Audited financial statements for the last three fiscal years (excluding public entities)

Other documents may be required according to the Project application and the Applicant.

6.3 Where it is required that a template is used, these will be made available on the website of the Managing Authority: (https://www.energywateragency.gov.mt/research-and-innovation/).

7. Amendments to Scheme

The Ministry for Energy and Water Management shall have the right to amend from time to time the applicable Rules and, or any of the provisions established by this Government Notice.

18th September, 2020

No. 1079

DEVELOPMENT PLANNING ACT, 2016 (ARTICLE 57)

Scheduling of Property

The Planning Authority is hereby declaring the properties mentioned hereunder as included in the List of Scheduled Property (as shown on the map on page 8397) in terms of Article 57 of the Development Planning Act, 2016, and paragraphs 1.13, 2.27, and policies TO8, UO2 and RO4 of the Strategic Plan for the Environment and Development (SPED) as follows:

The Planning Authority will exercise its powers of enforcement, as set out in Article 57 of the Act, in the case of any contravention to the provisions of the Development Planning Act 2016 as regards to scheduled property.

18th September, 2020

Scheduling chart Gaz 18.9.pdf

No. 1080

GOLDSMITHS AND SILVERSMITHS ACT(CAP. 46)

THE Commissioner of Inland Revenue notifies that, on the date shown hereunder, the price of gold and silver on which valuations made by the Consul for Goldsmiths and Silversmiths are based has been fixed for the purposes of article 14 of the said Act as follows:

                                    Date                              Pure Gold                    Pure Silver

                                                                             Grams                           Grams

                                18.9.2020                            €53.701                          €0.772

18th September, 2020​