For someone whose first paying job was as a dishwasher in a Bugibba restaurant, Martin Bugelli has come a long way. His “tal platti” job tag did not last long however, as he was soon promoted to waiter. His boss, who was illiterate, was taken aback when he realised “tal platti” was no fool after he received a letter from the Inland Revenue and Martin helped him out.

Martin took this job while waiting for the Health Department to confirm his post as a speech therapist at St Luke’s Hospital, after he got his Diploma in speech pathology and therapeutics in 1981.

That affirmation was the real starting point to his, gradual and ascending, communications career in the Civil Service.

Thirty years later, on 1 May 2011, he became the European Commission’s Head of Representation in Malta. Coming up to a year in that post, I visited him at Europa House in Merchants Street, Valletta. The restored 17th century building houses the Office of the European Parliament and the European Commission Representation in Malta.

It backs on to magnificent views of Grand Harbour, Bighi and the Three Cities and fronts on to the old food market, a venue engendering much debate on its future.

As I went up in the elevator, somehow, it suddenly hit me, who better to lead “Your voice in Europe” then someone who started off helping people with communication difficulties.

It takes skill and experience to be able to simplify and put across a vast amount of, sometimes, complex data across to the general public. Martin is wary and sometimes defensive that people might think that he has got to where he is today through political connections.

But I remembered that as long as I have know him, since the late nineties, he was always studying for more qualifications and at one time working as a night receptionist at a Valletta hotel to subsidise his studies.

I also recalled how David Curmi, Chief Executive Officer at MSV Life plc, who had shared a school bench with him at St Aloysius College, had once described Martin to me, at an OPM reception, as “a very sharp, inquisitive and forthright person who always challenged conventional thinking. Down to earth, open and an out-and-out honest person.”

I checked with David that I was quoting him correctly, since the conversation had taken place a few years back, which he did, adding, “Martin is a great communicator, a quality that makes him a good leader.”

But let’s take a look at Martin’s civil service career history. In 1987, he was transferred from Health to the Education Department and was on the minister’s, then Ugo Mifsud Bonnici, private staff as a public relations officer. When, in 1994, the minister became President, Martin moved with him and stayed until 1998.

He then moved to the Agriculture Ministry, just before the President’s term ended in 1999, again responsible for that ministry’s public relations. He, however, retained the position of honorary secretary of the Malta Community Chest Fund. Incidentally, Martin braves the cold and choppy waters to take part in the CCF’s yearly winter charity swim.

Since he is the kind of person who is always on the look out to know more about a subject, especially one he is involved in, he got a Diploma in Agriculture from the Malta University in 2003. He even leased an allotment and started growing vegetables.

When I asked him about the latter, he told me that it came about after his youngest son was involved in a traffic accident. “I wanted a rural safe haven where my family could picnic and my sons (he has three, Daniel, Samuel and Gabriel) could play in a healthy environment as they grew up. Besides, I enjoy the manual labour of growing my own vegetables,” he told me.

Talk of his boys, his vegetable patch, studies, busy workload and charity work made me think that his wife Antonella must have given him much ongoing support. “I could always concentrate on career and studies, comfortable in the knowledge that the really important issues on the family front, were in better hands than mine”, he told me.

In 2000, while the build up to European Accession was starting to take off, Martin undertook a course to further his PR skills and got a European Commission Training Certificate Functionnaire Stagiare –Info communication, culture and audiovisual Media. This led to him being responsible for the info campaign leading to the 2003 EU accession referendum.

Between 2001 and 2002, Martin worked as a part-time consultant with BP International Limited in London, which included strategic advice on messaging, audiences and methods of delivery. Meanwhile, he had graduated BA (Hons) English from the University of London.

Subsequent to the Agricultural Ministry, Martin moved to Rural Affairs and the Environment as Principal Officer, after a successful exam, which enabled the promotion to a general administrative/management grade. He became assistant director in 2004.

He then moved to Brussels as Technical Attaché at the Permanent Representation of Malta to the European Union until 2006. He got his MA in Mass Communications from the University of Leicester in that year and then was promoted to director general at the Rural Affairs and the Environment Ministry.

His next move was to the European Union secretariat in the Office of the Prime Minister. In September 2007, Martin moved back to the Permanent Representation of Malta to the EU in Brussels, this time as Chef de Cabinet responsible for the administration and management of the Representation.

Just over a year later, Martin was back at the OPM, this time as Director General for Information, Local Government and Public Consultation. He held that post until he was appointed to his present job.

I asked him whether this post was any different to his previous work in public relations. “This job makes me more visible. Good PR goes on behind the scenes, but this post goes beyond that. It is about making sure the Maltese public acquires the right information on how to get its voice heard. That means I am seen on television and recognised as “tal Europa. I am invited on radio and I visit a multitude of venues from schools to band clubs.

“Maximising our visibility is in our mission statement, so as well as informing I now have to give interviews and be more widely available. All the staff here, as well as me, is easily accessible. My business card has my mobile number printed on it,” he told me.

The concept of a Europe House open to citizens is being put in practice with conference and meeting facilities, which are being made available, free-of-charge, to organisations or events with a link to Europe. Publications are distributed and an even wider selection is available at Europa House.

“Really, what we endeavour to put across is ‘What’s in it for you’. This will be made even clearer with the Citizen’s Initiative. The European Commission has made great efforts to create a system that is both credible and user-friendly. From now on, a million citizens from across Europe can come together on an issue and ask the Commission to do something about it.”

“We get all sorts of queries. They vary from ones re funding to citizen complaints; some of the latter are totally of national competence and not of a European nature at all. In such cases we point them in the right direction. As to the questions that fall within Europe’s range, those we can easily handle, we answer directly. Some we might need to refer to headquarters to ensure we give the fullest response possible.

“We also network very closely with all European info desks within the government, having in the past year formed them into an informal group. This helps with queries being referred to the right source with the minimum of hassle for the public.”

I was left in no doubt that the mission statement “Making Europe for the Maltese. We aim to achieve this objective by: Listening, connecting, informing & engaging in dialogue; Working closely with stakeholders”, is being adhered to.

For more information on the Citizens Initiative visit: ec.europa.eu/malta

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