Malta's EU Presidency negotiator Robert Micallef has submitted a nomination to contest the election of the European Parliament on behalf of the Labour Party.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was among a number of PL members who encouraged Robert Micallef to contest the election that will be held in May 2019, a press statement read.

"Robert Micallef's nomination to the Labour Party's national executive committee was formally seconded by former Prime Minister and current MEP Alfred Sant, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Promotion Carmelo Abela and the Prime Minister's Special Delegate Joe Debono Grech," the statement read.

"Micallef has extensive working experience in Brussels having worked with EU institutions for over sixteen years. He was employed as an economist with the European Commission and was an adviserto the Group of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament. For a number of years, Robert Micallef was also National Editor for Eurobarometer surveys published by the European Commission."

"During the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the European Union, he chaired a number of key European working committees primarily in the area of finance and development and represented the Council in high-level meetings. He led the Council's preparations for the creation of the European External Investment Plan that will mobilize € 44 billion of investments in Africa and the EU's neighbourhood and led political and technical negotiations with the European Parliament on behalf of the Council. The European External Investment Plan was one of the main deliverables of the Maltese EU Presidency"

"Micallef studied politics and economics at Oxford University and European law at the European College in Parma where he was tutored by Professor Mario Monti. He also   obtained a Master in Business Administration with a specialization in Technology from Grenoble School of Management in France and a Master in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, the oldest graduate school in the US, set up jointly by the universities of Harvard and Tufts."

"For a number of years, he taught political studies and European studies at the University of Malta. Before he began his European career, Micallef was co-founder of the Labour Youth Forum and served as President of the National Youth Council. He was later appointed European Secretary of the International Union of Socialist Youth. Together with Federica Mogherini, now the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Micallef was elected to the leadership board of the European Youth Forum in Brussels. He was also Chairman of the Board of Judges for the Mini European Assembly and served as President of the Ghaqda tal-Malti."

Micallef was a candidate for the Labour Party in the European Parliament elections held in 2004. Micallef is married to Larisa Micallef and they have a Brussels born daughter named Elizabetta.