Cap. 500 Art. 2Interpretation. S.L. 451.03. Cap. 379.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires: "Appeals Board" means the appeals boards, tribunals or courts established by law, recourse to which may be made by any aggrieved person following a decision of a competent authority;

"authorisation" means a permit, licence, warrant, appointment, concession or any formal or implied decision concerning access to a service activity or the exercise thereof; "authorisation scheme" means any authorisation and other procedure of an administrative nature, under which a provider or recipient is in effect required to take steps in order to commence the activity in question and obtain, from a competent authority, authorisation concerning access to a service activity or the exercise thereof; "commercial communication" means any form of communication designed to promote, directly or indirectly, the goods, services or image of an undertaking, organisation or person engaged in commercial, industrial or craft activity, or practicing a regulated profession. The following do not in themselves constitute commercial communications:

(a) information enabling direct access to the activity of the undertaking, organisation or person, including in particular a domain name or an electronic-mailing address;

(b) communications relating to the goods, services or image of the undertaking, organisation or person, compiled in an independent manner, particularly when provided for no financial consideration; "competent authority" means any body or authority established and, or designated by law and vested with a supervisory and, or regulatory role in relation to service activities, including the regulation of access to service activities and, or the exercise thereof; "the Directive" means Directive 2006/123/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December, 2006, on services in the internal market; "the European Commission" means the Commission of the European Community;

"Internal Market Information System" means the information system, established further to Article 34 of the Directive, through which competent authorities exchange information in fulfilment of their obligations under Chapter VI of the Directive; "Member State" means a member state of the European Economic Area; "Member State of establishment" means the Member State in whose territory the provider of the service concerned is established; "Member State where the service is provided" means the Member State where the service is supplied by a provider established in another Member State;

"the Minister" means the Minister responsible for the economy; "overriding reasons relating to the public interest", unless otherwise specified in this Act, means the reasons recognised as such in the case law of the European Court of Justice, and as they may continue to evolve, including the following grounds: public policy, public security, public safety, and public health; the maintenance of order in society; social policy objectives, the protection of the recipients of services; consumer protection; the protection of workers including the social protection of workers; animal welfare; the preservation of the financial balance of the social security system; the prevention of fraud; the prevention of unfair competition; the protection of the environment and the urban environment including town and country planning; the protection of creditors; safeguarding the sound administration of justice; road safety; the protection of intellectual property; cultural policy objectives including safeguarding the freedom of expression of various elements in particular social, cultural, religious and philosophical values of society; the need to ensure a high level of education, the maintenance of press diversity and the promotion of the national language; the preservation of national historical and artistic heritage; and veterinary policy; "point of single contact" means the electronic system through which the competent authorities shall fulfil their functions relating to the completion of all procedures and formalities necessary for establishment and access to and exercise of a service activity in Malta and the provision of relevant information to an applicant, a provider and recipients in terms of this Act or as may be prescribed; "provider" means any natural person who is a national of a Member State, or any legal person as referred to in Article 48 of the Treaty and established in a Member State, who offers or provides a service; or non-professional purposes, uses, or wishes to use, a service; "regulated profession" means a professional activity or a group of professional activities as referred to in Article 3(1)(a) of Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications as transposed by the Recognition of Professional Qualifications Regulations; "requirement" means any obligation, prohibition, condition or limit provided for in the laws, regulations or administrative provisions, administrative practice, the rules of professional bodies, or the collective rules of professional associations or other professional organisations, adopted in the exercise of their legal autonomy;

"service" means any self-employed activity performed for an economic consideration as referred to in Article 50 of the Treaty;

"services of a general economic interest" means those services declared by the Minister as services of general economic interest in terms of article 30(3) of the Competition Act in conformity with

Community law; "the Treaty" means the Treaty establishing the European Community.