Finance Minister surprises hoteliers with unannounced tax hike
Get European news in your inbox daily
A short daily digest of the whole continent — or just the countries you care about.
Check your email. We've sent a confirmation link — click it to complete your subscription.
Hoteliers expected an eco-tax of €5; Finance Minister Clyde Caruana delivered a higher rate instead. The Malta Hotels and Restaurant Association had been promised the lower figure, but in budget season, ministerial promises and ministerial math do not always align.
The island now generates the least waste per person in the European Union, a rare environmental gold medal aided by improving plastic recycling rates. Elsewhere, the government is being asked to pick up the bill for third-country national nurses, while consultations have begun on the country's first national strategy for workplace safety.
Eighty academics have called for a review of the jury system following acquittals in the Caruana Galizia and Lassana Cisse murder cases. In the latter, Lorin Scicluna was cleared of murder but sentenced to eight years for the hit-and-run; it appears the legal system is currently satisfying neither the scholars nor the streets.