Who is Roberta Tedesco Triccas?

I am 25 and a lawyer who has just graduated with a Masters in European Politics and decided to run in the name of the Nationalist Party for the European Parliament elections. It is a challenge I was asked to take on by the current Prime Minister. After a lot of thought, I decided to accept the invitation and go for it full throttle. My aim is to represent and listen to people and to ask them to use my knowledge and experience in the field of European politics in order to project the Nationalist Party platform on a local level. During and throughout my campaign, I will try to represent as many sectors of Maltese and Gozitan society as possible.

What can young people contribute to the European Union?

First of all, it’s a very, very positive development that both main political parties have made an effort to choose some young candidates. We are not only representing young people however. The average age of European politicians in EU institutions is too high and it needs to be lowered. Therefore young people should penetrate EU institutions and be represented at all levels of decision-making. We have to be involved in whatever affects us and whatever affects society and the daily lives of Maltese and Gozitan citizens. And, with my experience, I believe I can be as valid a member of the EP as any of the other candidates.

How do you feel as a young candidate among candidates who are more experienced and are older than you?

I don’t think experience can be translated into age. I started being active in politics when I was 15. That means I’ve been politically active for 10 years. A decade during which the process of Malta entering the European Union was at the fore of national politics. I believe that I chose to be active at the most opportune moment, indeed I have been involved over the past years both in Malta and in Europe as a student, a young person and a worker. In addition, I have worked for the European People’s Party for a year; which appointment could have been given at any age. The fact that I was 23 means that I just got it before anybody else did!

What should be the role of a Maltese MEP in the European Parliament?

Since this is the first election of its kind, I think people have this notion that the five people elected to the EP will be permanently in Brussels for five years, never coming to Malta in the meantime. The most important role of an MEP is basically that of being the ambassador of all Maltese and Gozitan citizens, not only that sector of the population who voted for that particular candidate or MEP. This ambassadorship will be the link between the EU institutions and the daily life of the citizen. We are there to represent the interests of all citizens and whatever laws and regulations are passed by the EP are going to be influenced by us. We will be there as the launching pad of Maltese people’s interests at European level. The EP is the only institution whose members are democratically elected by the citizens of the Union, in our case Maltese and Gozitans. So we have to be there all the time to listen to people, to know what they want from us and how we can represent those people’s individual interests at European level. This is why one of the most important roles of EP members is to participate in committees to which he or she is assigned. Not only participate, but be actively involved. That is where being part of the largest group in the EP comes in if you are affiliated to the largest group in the EP, in this case, the EPP, of which the Nationalist Party is a member. Being the largest group in the EP means that the most important positions in the committees are held by EPP representatives. So there is a chance of a Maltese MEP holding an important position in these committees. It is there that the interests and needs of Maltese and Gozitans will be translated at European level in the most effective way.

What is the particular area or niche in which you would like to work if you are elected to the EP?

An MEP has to be a full member of one committee and substitute member of another. At the moment there are 17 committees, but the number changes with every legislature – there is currently a move to increase them to 21. If a committee which deals with youth, education and sports issues is created in the next legislature, that could easily be chaired by a young person with the active participation of young people. Besides that, since I am a lawyer, I have already been actively involved in the juridical affairs committee when I worked in the European Parliament. There are also the social affairs committee and the equal opportunities committee in which I am very interested and I have already been actively involved in drafting reports and write-ups related to them.

Are you ready to work with other Maltese MEPs from the Labour Party or possibly Alternattiva on an issue of common national interest?

Definitely. There is no doubt that when we talk about the European Parliament, we are not talking about a government and an opposition. It is well-known that the EPP is the largest political group, but, if one looks at the voting patterns, a lot of decisions are taken where there is agreement between the larger political parties. Now whether that is with the Greens, the Liberals or with the PES would depend on the context. However, if one looks at the history of EP voting patterns where decisions would affect national interests and where all the MEPs of one country need to get together, one observes great cooperation and coordination between all the national representatives. If we don’t work together on this, then that is where this project of Malta entering the EU fails. If unity among the representatives of the Maltese and Gozitans as a whole, and not as the representatives of the respective voters of the particular party, is not achieved, that is where we would go wrong. On my part, I would definitely be willing to co-ordinate and co-operate with MEPs from other parties. I just hope that this objective is and will be shared by the representatives of all other parties, which, to be frank, I sometimes doubt. However there is a hope for developments and progress in this regard and I hope that during the next five weeks, all the candidates across the political spectrum realise the importance of this.