Aaron Farrugia (born 1 January 1980) is a

Maltese Maltese may refer to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta * Maltese alphabet * Maltese cuisine * Maltese culture * Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people * Maltese people, people from Malta or of Maltese ...

Partit Laburista The Labour Party (, PL), formerly known as the Malta Labour Party (, MLP), is the oldest List of political parties in Malta, political party in Malta, and one of the two major parties alongside the Nationalist Party (Malta), Nationalist Party. ...

(Labour Party) politician, Member of Parliament and Malta’s Permanent Representative to the

International Maritime Organization The International Maritime Organization (IMO; ; ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for regulating maritime transport. The IMO was established following agreement at a ...

. He previously served as Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects and Minister for the Environment, Climate Change & Planning in Prime Minister

Robert Abela Robert Abela (born 7 December 1977) is a Maltese lawyer and politician who has served as prime minister of Malta and leader of the Malta Labour Party since 2020. The son of former president George Abela, he was elected to Parliament in 2017 ...

’s cabinet and served as Parliamentary Secretary for European Funds and Social Dialogue in former Prime Minister

Joseph Muscat Joseph Muscat (born 22 January 1974) is a Maltese politician who served as the 13th prime minister of Malta from 2013 to 2020 and leader of the Labour Party from 2008 to 2020. Muscat was first elected Prime Minister in March 2013 with 54.83 ...

’s cabinet. He was elected as a member of the Parliament in June 2017 and was re-elected for a second consecutive time in the 2022 General Election. In Parliament he served as Head of the Maltese Delegation in the Parliamentary Assembly for the Mediterranean and member for the Foreign and European Affairs committee during the thirteenth legislature. An economist and a lawyer, Farrugia worked as a policy Advisor to the members of the Maltese Delegation in the

European Committee of the Regions The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) is the European Union's (EU) assembly of local and regional representatives that provides sub-national authorities (i.e. regions, counties, provinces, municipalities and cities) with a direct voice w ...

and later on as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the

Malta Freeport Malta Freeport ( Maltese: ''Il-Port Ħieles'') is an international port on the island of Malta with a trade volume of 3.06 million TEUs in 2015.

Corporation Farrugia served in a number of positions in the Labour Party, mainly as an elected member of the Administrative Council and National Executive Committee, founder of the Labour Party think-tank Fondazzjoni IDEAT and President of the Labour Youth Forum.

Biography

Studies and personal life

Farrugia obtained a B.A. with Honours in Banking & Finance at the

University of Malta The University of Malta (, UM, formerly UOM) is a higher education institution in Malta. It offers undergraduate bachelor's degrees, postgraduate master's degrees and postgraduate doctorates. It is a member of the European University Association, ...

in 2002 and a M.A. in European Politics, Economics and Law at the same university in 2005. He then read for a Doctorate of Laws degree and graduated in 2017 with a doctoral thesis on direct democracy.Linkedin
/ref> Aaron Farrugia was a visiting lecturer at the Faculty of Economics, Management and Accountancy of the University of Malta for a number of years. He taught Politics, Political Campaigning, policy making and Governance. Aaron Farrugia has two daughters, Petra, born in 2012 and Angelica, born in 2018.

Political career

During his student days Farrugia served as the Secretary General of ''Pulse'',Pulse
/ref> a social democrat student organisation (1998-2001)and Financial Secretary of the Maltese National Youth Council (2004 and 2005). Farrugia joined the

Malta Labour Party The Labour Party (, PL), formerly known as the Malta Labour Party (, MLP), is the oldest List of political parties in Malta, political party in Malta, and one of the two major parties alongside the Nationalist Party (Malta), Nationalist Party. ...

in 2001 and served as Deputy President (2000-2001) and then as President of the Labour Youth Forum (Forum Żgħazagħ Laburisti) between 2002–2004 and 2006–2008. In 2005 Farrugia was elected as Deputy Mayor of the Ta’ Xbiex Local Council. In 2008 he was elected as education secretary in the new Labour Party executive, and coordinated the compilation of the 2013 party manifesto, besides founding and chairing the party think tank, Fondazzjoni Ideat, between 2009 and 2011. Farrugia was elected for the first time as a Member of Parliament in the 2017 general election, which he contested on 1st District. During his first legislature as a member of Parliament, Farrugia served as Parliamentary Secretary for European Funds and Social Dialogue and as Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Planning after a cabinet reshuffle in January 2020. Farrugia was elected for a second consecutive time as a Member of Parliament in 2022 and was entrusted with the Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects portfolio in Prime Minister

's Cabinet. Farrugia expressed support for a change towards a first past the post system, a separate list to increase the number of women in Parliament, and for higher salaries for Members of Parliament.

Memberships

Farrugia is an Atlantic Forum Young Leader Alumnus (2011) and a United States of America

International Visitor Leadership Program The International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) is a professional exchange program funded by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The mission of IVLP is to offer current and emerging international leader ...

alumnus (2012). Farrugia is also a member of the Malta-United States Alumni Association (MUSAA). Friends of Europe listed him among the 40under40 Young European Leaders in 2017.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Farrugia, Aaron 1980 births Living people Maltese people of Jewish descent Maltese Roman Catholics Maltese economists Labour Party (Malta) politicians Government ministers of Malta University of Malta alumni 21st-century Maltese politicians Members of the House of Representatives of Malta