Aaron Farrugia

Aaron Farrugia (born 1 January 1980) is a Maltese Partit Laburista (Labour Party) politician, Member of Parliament and the current Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects. He previously served as Minister for the Environment, Climate Change & Planning in Prime Minister Robert Abela’s cabinet and served as Parliamentary Secretary for European Funds and Social Dialogue in former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s cabinet.

MP
Aaron Farrugia
Minister for Transport, Infrastructure & Capital Projects
Assumed office
March 30, 2022
Preceded byIan Borg
Minister for the Environment, Climate Change & Planning
In office
January 15, 2020 – March 26, 2022
Parliamentary Secretary for European Funds and Social Dialogue
In office
June 8, 2017 – January 13, 2020
Member of the Maltese Parliament
Assumed office
June, 2017
Personal details
Born (1980-01-01) 1 January 1980
St. Julians
Political partyLabour Party (Malta) (national)
Socialists & Democrats (European)
Alma materUniversity of Malta
Websiteaaronfarrugia.com

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. He is a member of the Cabinet of the Government of Malta and former Head of the Maltese Delegation in the Parliamentary Assembly for the Mediterranean. Farrugia also served as a member for the Foreign Affairs committee in Parliament during the thirteenth legislature.


An economist (which somehow ended up responsible for the Environment, Climate Change, Planning, then Transport and Infrastructure), Farrugia worked as a policy Advisor to the members of the Maltese Delegation in the Committee of the Regions and later on as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Malta Freeport 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 in 2002[1] and a M.A. in European Politics, Economics and Law at the same university in 2005.[2] He then read for a Doctorate of Laws degree and graduated in 2017 with a doctoral thesis on direct democracy.[3][4]

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,[5] 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 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 Robert Abela'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 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
  1. Thesis title: Foreign Direct Investment in Malta – A Review of Measures of Attraction and Problems in Implementation
  2. Thesis title: Welfare Policy Reforms in Contemporary Europe: The Ideological Shift in the European Social Democrat Parties
  3. Thesis title: Enhancing civic engagement: the Growing use of Direct Democracy in Malta and other relevant countries
  4. Linkedin
  5. Pulse
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