Simon Busuttil appointed new Secretary-General of the EPP Group

The EPP Group in the European Parliament yesterday appointed Simon Busuttil as its new Secretary-General. Mr Busuttil will take up his position during the month of April 2020. He will replace the outgoing Secretary-General, Martin Kamp, who has occupied the post since 2007 and who has now decided to step down.

The Chairman of the EPP Group Manfred Weber praised Martin Kamp for his long-standing dedication and commitment to European unity and the values of the EPP. “Martin has managed to keep the EPP Group together for many years and we regret his departure”, Weber said.

As new Secretary-General, Simon Busuttil will be responsible for leading the 280-strong Secretariat of the EPP Group, which is the largest and oldest political family in the European Union, supporting 182 MEPs in the European Parliament.

After his appointment, Busuttil said: “It will be a great privilege to serve at the heart of the European Parliament with the political family that represents my values. I will work tirelessly to repay the trust that is being shown in me by the EPP Group to achieve our goal of a stronger Europe at the service of the people.”

Simon Busuttil, who is 50 years old, is a lawyer by profession. He is not new to the European Parliament, having himself been an MEP between 2004 and 2013. Before joining the European Parliament, he was a prominent player in Malta’s EU accession process. He was a member of his country’s EU negotiating team and also led the public communications campaign ahead of the successful EU membership referendum in 2003. In 2013, he left the European Parliament to take over the leadership of his party in Malta, the Partit Nazzjonalista, also becoming Leader of the Opposition. He resigned the party leadership in 2017 but stayed on as a member of the national parliament taking a leading role in the fight for justice and the rule of law in that Member State.