Simon Busuttil appointed director in European Parliament administration

Former Opposition leader Simon Busuttil has been appointed director within the administration of the European Parliament, marking the first time a Maltese national has joined the institution’s senior management since Malta joined the EU in 2004.

Busuttil’s appointment follows the end of his five-year tenure as secretary-general of the European People’s Party (EPP), the parliament’s largest political group. In his new role, he will be responsible for operational planning within DG LINC, the directorate handling logistics, interpretation and conferences across the parliament.

As a director, Busuttil will report to one of the parliament’s 16 director-generals, who in turn report to Alessandro Chiocchetti, the European Parliament’s secretary-general and top administrative official. Chiocchetti previously served as head of cabinet to Roberta Metsola, the Maltese MEP and current President of the European Parliament.

The new position marks a shift for Busuttil from his previous political role within the EPP to a neutral, administrative role within the parliament’s bureaucracy.

PN MEP Peter Agius congratulated Busuttil, describing the appointment as “a proud day for Malta”. David Casa, also a PN MEP, similarly congratulated him for "making us all proud".

Busuttil, a former MEP who led the Nationalist Party between 2013 and 2017, moved to Brussels in 2020 after being handpicked by then EPP leader Manfred Weber for the secretary-general post. Following reports last year that Weber was reshaping the EPP’s leadership team, Busuttil briefly served as principal advisor to Weber before assuming his new position in the parliament’s administration.