Government to introduce blacklist for environmental breaches in the future

Companies that frequently breach their environmental obligations may soon face blacklisting from applying for government tenders, as already happens with precarious employment, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna announced.

“The government has a duty to blacklist serial offenders,” Scicluna said, adding that a ‘commercial sanctions board’ of experts will be set up to blacklist them. As was announced earlier this month, the board will also be tasked with blacklisting companies found guilty of precarious employment.

He was speaking at the publication of the Public Contract Review Board’s annual report.

During 2014, the PCRB reviewed 125 appeal cases, with a further 14 carried over from 2013.  102 of these decisions were rejected, 32 were upheld, and six were carried over to 2015. The processed appeals were worth around €57 million.

Scicluna projected that the government saves €3 million a year through the upholding of appeals to the board.

PCRB chairman Anthony Cassar said that EU directives that will be introduced next year will allow for the splitting of large tenders so that smaller businesses will be able to apply for them. The directive will also lower the tender threshold for which companies can appeal selection board decisions from €12 million to €10 million.