Roberta Metsola

Roberta Metsola Tedesco Triccas[1] (born January 18, 1979, in St. Julian's, Malta) is a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) representing Malta.

Roberta Metsola

MEP
First Vice-President of the European Parliament
Assumed office
12 October 2020
PresidentDavid Sassoli
Preceded byMairead McGuinness
Member of the European Parliament for Malta
Assumed office
24 April 2013
Preceded bySimon Busuttil
Personal details
Born (1979-01-18) January 18, 1979
St. Julian's, Malta
NationalityMaltese
Political partyPartit Nazzjonalista
Spouse(s)Ukko Metsola
ChildrenLuca, Alec, Marc & Kristian
ResidenceSt. Julian's, Malta
Alma materUniversity of Malta
ProfessionLawyer

Education and work

Metsola is a lawyer and has specialised in European law and politics. She served as Malta's Legal and Judicial Cooperation Attaché within the Permanent Representation of Malta to the European Union.[2] and, from 2012 to 2013, as legal advisor to the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton.

Political career

Early beginnings

In her student years, Metsola formed part of SDM (Studenti Demokristjani Maltin), KNZ (The National Youth Council) and MZPN (Moviment Zgħazagħ Partit Nazzjonalista), before being elected as Secretary General of the European Democrat Students (EDS - the student branch of the EPP), as well as to posts within the European Youth Forum (YJF). In 2002, she was elected vice-president of the Youth Convention on the Future of Europe which paved the way to her being closely involved in the negotiation and drafting of the European Constitutional Treaty and, later, the Lisbon Treaty.

Metsola has been active within the Partit Nazzjonalista in Malta since youth, serving within the party's international secretariat; actively campaigning for a 'YES' vote in the 2003 EU membership referendum, and volunteering with the PN's election arm ELCOM. She ran for the European Parliament elections in 2004 and the 2009 European Parliament as a Nationalist candidate in Malta. She was not elected in either of these elections.

Member of the European Parliament, 2013–present
Metsola asks a question in 2019 hearings for the Von der Leyen Commission

Metsola successfully contested the casual election to fill in the vacated seat of Simon Busuttil on 24 April 2013, becoming one of Malta's first female Members of the European Parliament.[3] In parliament, she is a member of the European People's Party Group (EPP).

Metsola currently serves as vice-chair of the Committee on Petitions (PETI).[4] In addition, she contributes to and is a member of the following committees: the Special Committee on Organised Crime, Corruption and Money Laundering (CRIM), the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) and the parliament's Delegation for relations with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo (DSEE). Within LIBE, she has been part of the Rule of Law Monitoring Group (ROLMG) since 2018.[5]

From 2016 until 2017, Metsola was part of the Parliament's Committee of Inquiry into Money Laundering, Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion (PANA) that investigated the Panama Papers revelations and tax avoidance schemes more broadly. She has also chosen to be a substitute member of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO), the Delegation for relations with Switzerland, Norway, the EU-Iceland Joint Parliamentary Committee and the European Economic Area (EEA) Joint Parliamentary Committee (DEEA) and the Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (DMED).

In addition to her committee assignments, Metsola is a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on Children's Rights.[6] Currently listed in the "Mapping Reliable allies in the European Parliament (2014 – 2019)" document as being a 'Member of the 8th European Parliament likely to support Open Society values during the 2014–2019 legislature.' as a Coordinator for 'Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE)'

Other activities

Political positions

In her capacity as member of LIBE, Metsola led the EPP's work on the non-binding ‘EU roadmap against homophobia and discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity’ in 2014.[9] She co-authored a non-binding report on the European migrant crisis in 2016, aimed at establish a “binding and mandatory legislative approach” on resettlement and new EU-wide “readmission” agreements which should take precedence over bilateral ones between EU and non-EU countries.[10]

Controversies

In October 2020, Metsola proposed amendments to a resolution by LIBE on Bulgaria that sparked controversy.[11][12] She insisted that the document include information about protests in Bulgaria being funded by a gambling boss with 18 charges raised against him. After hundreds of protesters contacted her on social media and she was threatened with lawsuit over slander and spread of "Fake news", Metsola blocked access to her social media from Bulgaria [13] and withdrew the proposed amendment.

Personal life

Roberta and her Finnish husband Ukko Metsola (National Coalition Party) both ran for the 2009 European Parliament election, becoming the first married couple to run in the same European Parliament election from two different member states.[14]

References
  1. Toby Vogel (April 30, 2013), Maltese politician accused of fraud elected to European Parliament European Voice.
  2. http://www.timesofmalta.com/mepelections/candidates/roberta-metsola-tedesco-triccas
  3. http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130424/local/marlene-mizzi-is-malta-s-first-woman-mep.466805
  4. Dave Keating (July 7, 2014), EFDD loses out as groups share the spoils European Voice.
  5. Rule of law: Civil Liberties MEPs to report on corruption and press freedom European Parliament, press release of June 5, 2018.
  6. Members of the European Parliament Intergroup on Children’s Rights European Parliament.
  7. Executive Board Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies.
  8. Friends of Europe appoints 29 new members to its Board of Trustees Friends of Europe, press release of June 25, 2020.
  9. Dave Keating (February 4, 2014), ‘Manif pour tous’ fails to defeat EU gay rights report European Voice.
  10. Maïa de La Baume (March 16, 2016), European Parliament ‘fixes’ the refugee crisis Politico Europe.
  11. "European Parliament to Vote on Amednments to Draft Resolution on Rule of Law in Bulgaria". 2020-10-07. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  12. "Евродепутатката от ЕНП Роберта Мацола е изтеглила предложенията си за промени в резолюцията" [MEP from EPP Roberta Metsola withrew the proposed amendments to the resolution] (in Bulgarian). 2020-10-07. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  13. "Роберта Мецола от ЕНП трие коментари от фейсбука си и забранява достъп до него от България" [Roberta Metsola deletes Facebook comments and blocks access from Bulgaria] (in Bulgarian). 2020-10-08. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  14. "Ukko Metsola poltti tappion sikarin". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 8 June 2009. Retrieved 31 January 2021. UKKO METSOLA, 36, tavoitteli maltalaisen vaimonsa Roberta Metsolan kanssa harvinaista tuplajäsenyyttä Euroopan parlamentissa. He olivat ensimmäinen eurooppalainen aviopari, joka pyrkii samoissa vaaleissa parlamenttiin kahdesta eri jäsenmaasta.
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