Second senior appointment for MEP Roberta Metsola

As the European Parliament’s Committees were constituted, Member of the European Parliament for Malta, Roberta Metsola was elected to the leadership team of the European People’s Party (EPP) Group within the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE).  

This is the second senior appointment within the European Parliament for Dr Metsola, who has also been appointed as Vice-President of the Petitions Committee.

Metsola joined forces with senior German MEP Monika Hohlmeier, for them to take the roles of deputy coordinator and coordinator of the EPP respectively within the LIBE Committee after being elected by other MEPs. The Committee deals with issues such as immigration, asylum, anti-discrimination and fundamental rights, which regularly top the list of concerns of people in EU Member States.

Metsola said that she was very much looking forward to working with MEP Hohlmeier and other MEPs and said that this was one way of further ensuring that the voice of the Maltese and Gozitans will continue to be heard despite forming part of one of the smallest delegations in the Parliament.

“The European Parliament is not about the size of your country but about how well you are able to build alliances and influence decisions. I am honoured that after only a year as MEP, my colleagues have elected Monika and I to coordinate the Group in the Committee. A strong voice for the EPP here, particularly on issues like immigration, is crucial for Europe and for Malta in particular.

The results of the last elections clearly show the challenges that we continue to face to reach out to citizens on the issues that matter most to them. The rise of populist and extremist parties underlines that we need to work hard to keep citizens' trust in in the European People’s Party’s ability to tackle the major issues people face - especially in the field of civil liberties, justice and home affairs,” said Dr Metsola.

In her role as Deputy Coordinator, Metsola will be directly involved in the formation of the EPP position on any number of dossiers and with negotiating legislation with different Groups in the Committee. The LIBE Committee is one of the largest of the European Parliament’s Committees and is composed of 60 MEPs from different Political Groups.