Barely a year and a half after being elected to serve at the European Parliament, MEP Francis Zammit Dimech has been shortlisted for a prestigious MEP Award for his work in the field of Culture, Education and Media.

Reacting to the announcement, Zammit Dimech said “Since the beginning of my mandate I have listened to people and worked to address their challenges. This shortlisting fills me with courage and determination to continue working to serve as the voice of the people at the European Parliament.  I humbly thank all those supporting me throughout my work”.

Francis Zammit Dimech has been an MEP since June 2017 and was entrusted by the EPP group to serve as the EPP Group rapporteur on a New European Agenda for Culture. He has pushed for more EU funding for festivals and making programmes more accessible to small organisations to preserve European cultural heritage and encourage cultural diversity. Having himself kicked off the application for Valletta to earn the title European Capital of Culture 2018 when Minister for Culture in 2008, Zammit Dimech has made calls for less political interference in the cultural sector. He has strongly supported the need for fair remuneration of artists and is also campaigning for Maltese Youtubers to be paid for content generated online.

Following extensive consultation with stakeholders, Zammit Dimech called for the modernisation of the education system through various proposals including the introduction of visual literacy in curricula due to his belief that this is fundamental to adapt to the transformational changes in society and reap all the technological benefits of the 21st century. The Maltese MEP pushed for the availability of the minority languages on online platforms. He tabled several amendments in a report on the challenges faced by languages in the digital age.  Zammit Dimech has also worked on a European Dyslexia Charter touching with several aspects faced by educators, parents and students.

Zammit Dimech, a former Minister for Communications and lecturer in European Media Law, has also worked to safeguard media freedom which he believes is crucial for European citizens not to be deprived of information that is of concern to them. He served as EPP Group rapporteur on the Press Freedom and Pluralism report.  He has also served as the EPP Group rapporteur on a legislative report concerning protection of whistle-blowers which are crucial for investigative journalism. In both cases he tabled various amendments which were adopted and played an active role during negotiations.

The MEP Awards recognise the hard work of members of the European Parliament while also celebrating their achievements in various policy areas. They were established to recognise deputies who have contributed significantly to the legislative, supervisory or budgetary role of the European Parliament through their parliamentary activities.  The award Ceremony will be held on 20th March. During the ceremony one of the three MEPs shortlisted for the Award in the field of Culture, Education and Media will receive the award.

MEP Francis Zammit Dimech will be re-contesting the European Parliament elections being held in May 2019.