Metsola’s head of office makes top 40 list of Brussels influencers in Politico ranking

Roberta Metsola’s sidekick Matthew Tabone has been included in a list of top 40 backroom influencers in Brussels by news portal Politico.

Tabone is head of the European Parliament president’s private office but is also married to her sister.

The Power 40 – Brussels class of 2023 list drawn up by the Brussels-based portal lists those deemed to be the “most effectively setting the agenda in politics, public policy and advocacy” in the seat of EU power.

“While their names might not always be known to the public, they are often the ones making things happen behind the scenes — shaping laws, setting political agendas and sparking public conversations,” the introduction to the list reads.

Tabone, whose grandfather was former president Censu Tabone, has been by Metsola’s side since her early days as an MEP.

The note accompanying Tabone’s choice states: “Few politicians in Brussels are more ambitious than European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, with her make-or-break year lying ahead. And she’s trusting Tabone with the issues most crucial to her political image. Task No. 1: Take advantage of opportunity in the Qatargate crisis by burnishing her chops as a parliamentary reformer. A push for more transparency involves overcoming both her native Malta’s culture of political corruption, as well as her own center-right political group’s resistance to any overhaul that could compromise MEPs’ freedom of mandate. And for Metsola, Tabone is more than a confidant; he’s also family, married to her sister.”

The list includes top performers pulling the strings that matter within EU institutions and lobbyists. But it also includes disgraced former MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri whose alleged criminal actions in the Qatargate scandal shook the European Parliament.