Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1113313
OPINION 26 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 MAY 2019 Hands-on in Brussels Cyrus Engerer Cyrus Engerer is a Labour candidate for the European Parliament 1. My MEP bid is the first paperless EP election campaign without post- ers, placards or leaflets. It is primarily a digital campaign complemented by TV appearances, radio and face-to-face meetings. 2. I became a member of the Labour Party thirty years ago. Dom Mintoff wrote to me when he was a student in Oxford, suggesting I join the Young Socialists. I still have the letter. 3. With Alfred Sant and Charles Man- gion, I participated in the constituent congress in The Hague that created the Party of European Socialists in 1992. 4. I was posted to Malta's diplomatic mission in Brussels and served as a negotiator for Malta's Presidency of the Council of the EU. 5. My main European achievement is my role in chairing the European Union's technical preparations for a €44-billion-plan to stem irregular mi- gration flows from Africa to Europe. As Council Representative, I successfully led the negotiations with the European Parliament. 6. My work as a negotiator during Malta's EU Presidency is the subject of an ongoing Masters research thesis at the Université Libre de Bruxelless conducted by Remi Roland, a Belgian UN employee. 7. I was employed as an economist with the European Commission and was appointed editor of Eurobarometer surveys. 8. I was a member of the European Commission Delegation to Malta dur- ing the years of accession negotiations that led to Malta joining the EU. 9. My nomination as an MEP candi- date has received the endorsements of Oliver Friggieri, Alfred Sant and the Prime Minister's Special Envoy Alex Sceberras Trigona, among others. My campaign's chief canvasser and agent is legal historian Raymond Mangion. 10. This is my second attempt as a Labour MEP Candidate. My election bid in 2004 was supported by Dom Mintoff, Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici and Miriam Dalli. In that election, Joseph Muscat, Louis Grech and John Attard Montalto were elected on behalf of the Labour Party. 11. I am one of Malta's blogging pioneers and won the Malta Journal- ism Awards (e-journalism) in 2006 and 2008. 12. As President of the National Youth Council in the nineties, I co-organised Malta's first anti-racism campaign – All Different All Equal. 13. I am a founder of the Labour Youth Forum and a former Secretary General of the European Socialist Youth. 14. Together with Federica Mogh- erini, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, I was elected to the leadership board of the European Youth Forum at the Salzburg Congress in 1998. 15. I am a former President of the Ghaqda tal-Malti and am committed to safeguarding the official status of the Maltese language in the EU. 16. As a football enthusiast, I am a keen follower of Malta's national team. I also support Tottenham Hotspur. 17. I studied politics and economics at the University of Oxford followed by graduate studies in Boston, Paris, Grenoble and Parma. 18. As a European student activist in 1989, I was arrested by the Com- munist regime of Czechoslovakia and was released the day after the Velvet Revolution. 19. I am a member of the University of Malta's Faculty of Economics, Manage- ment and Accountancy and teach Euro- pean politics. I have published book chapters on the foreign policies of Dom Mintoff and Eddie Fenech Adami. 20. As a student of the Manoel Thea- tre Academy of Dramatic Art, I played the part of Shakespeare's Hamlet under the direction of Jon Rosser. 21. My wife Larisa has a PhD in lin- guistics from Moscow State University and we have a daughter named Eliza- betta. 22. I am a shareholder of the New Internationalist magazine. 23. The first major United Nations event I attended was the 1992 UN Con- ference on Environment and Develop- ment held in Rio de Janeiro where I was elected a member of the NGO steering committee. 24. I am a co-founder of Global Africa, a foundation set up with the support of UNIDO and the German Government during the EU-Africa Caribbean Pacific Joint Parliamentary Assembly. 25. During my time in Oxford, I was appointed secretary to a delegation that travelled to Baghdad during the Iraq war. The mission included three British Labour MPs and its objective was to release European hostages and to pro- mote a diplomatic end to the conflict. 25 facts about... me Robert Micallef Robert Micallef is a Labour candidate for the European Parliament FOR five years I was Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's voice in Brussels. I witnessed and participated in the preparations and the hosting of the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the European Union and headed the Presidency's relations with the European Parliament. The task required an all-hands-on- deck approach. The govern- ment had to be fully committed to the Presidency. Otherwise it would not have been possible for it to be a successful en- deavour. A junior Minister, Ian Borg, was politically responsible for it. Dar Malta, our Perma- nent Representation to the EU was beefed up. All ministries made their internal arrange- ments and preparations which included dedicating several policy experts to help the of- ficials in Dar Malta, with most of them commuting between Brussels and Malta. There was a national effort behind the huge success of the Maltese Presi- dency. Nevertheless, against this background of unity, zeal and dedication, the PN Opposition led by Simon Busuttil took to task the ruining of our repu- tation. It put all its efforts in tarnishing the image of Malta in the EU. Possibly, Simon and his clique chose this approach due to the lack of traction in the gaining of support among the Maltese electorate. Or, it could have simply been the blindness of political bias that stopped him from understand- ing the national importance of this feat on the European stage. In any case, what I will try to highlight in these few words is the juxtaposition of these two realities that I witnessed; the huge personal and coor- dinated effort by hundreds of people working for the country with pride, independently of their political beliefs, and the reprehensible actions of the few people who tried to damage our name abroad. For the six months of the Presidency our officials in Brus- sels worked tirelessly to prepare and chair meetings within the Council of the EU and to negotiate with the European Parliament on behalf of the 28 Member States. Our ministers met with all the Members of Parliament and held numerous Council of Ministers meetings. The effort did not go unreward- ed as our Presidency ended up being one of the most success- ful in years. It was a success, despite the effort put by the PN to damage Malta. Eventually this culmi- nated in the Egrant lie which led to the early election in 2017. However, this was only the culmination of these efforts. For months Roberta Metsola and David Casa concocted and whispered in the corridors of the European Parliament. I wit- nessed them working tirelessly to harm Dr Toni Abela at his grilling following his nomina- tion to the European Court of Auditors. I saw them working hard trying to paint a picture of Malta which is far from reality; depicting us as a nation without the rule of law; a place almost to be feared. A black spot of sorts in the EU. In my conversations with the many MEPs I have met, I have earnestly argued the contrary and defended the image of my country. I have encouraged MEPs to get in touch with people from their own country who have chosen Malta as their country of residence, who have come to our nation to partake in the economic success we are going through. I have encour- aged these MEPs to ask their fellow compatriots, whether they feel safe in Malta, whether the rule of law exists. Following the last five years, it is clear to me that the Maltese electorate will have a choice to make this May. The Maltese electorate will have to choose between representatives who will work for and represent their interests and those who will endeavour to harm the economic success of our nation and the quality of life of each and every one of us. The Maltese electorate will have a choice to make this May