During an interview with Newsbook’s chief editor Matthew Xuereb, Prime Minister Robert Abela announced  that Glenn Micallef, who recently resigned as his head of secretariat, will be nominated as Malta’s next European Commissioner.

Abela chose not to nominate any of his ministers, despite their qualifications, to avoid disrupting their current work.

This marks the first time Malta is nominating a non-politician for the role. Micallef, an EU policy expert and former Director General of Malta’s EU Coordination Department, has significant experience from attending Cabinet meetings and participating in decisions over the past four years.

Initially, Abela planned to nominate former deputy prime minister Chris Fearne, but a court ruling requiring Fearne to stand trial for fraud related to the hospitals’ scandal changed those plans. Abela is expected to submit Micallef’s nomination to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen by the end of August.

Von der Leyen has requested that each EU country nominate both a man and a woman to ensure a gender-balanced commission, though no country has yet done so.

The Nationalist Party criticized Abela’s choice, suggesting it shows a lack of confidence in his ministers and condemned the absence of a female nominee. Commissioners must be approved by the European Parliament, which has previously rejected nominees from other countries.

#MaltaDaily