This is the first time a Maltese councillor has been named on this committee, and it happened just a few days after Malta’s EU accession, a Nationalist Party statement said.

The Regional Committee is an institution in which councillors from local authorities discuss issues that concern politics and democracy at local level. Maltese councils have five representatives and five substitutes who can attend and have a right to vote. Dr Micallef is also the president of the Local Councils Association.