Professor Pierre Mallia has been chosen to be on the European Group on Ethics for Science and Technology (EGE), which answers directly to Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, for a period of three years.

As per its website, the EGE is an independent, multi-disciplinary advisory body, reporting to the President of the European Commission and the College of Commissioners as a whole, tasked with addressing all aspects of Commission policies and legislation where ethical, societal and fundamental rights dimensions intersect with the development of science and new technologies. In addition to its mobilisation on Covid-19, the EGE is working on the topics of genome editing, artificial intelligence and the future of work. The group's legal mandate is enshrined in Commission Decision (2021/156).

Members are chosen in their personal capacity following a call for applications from member states candidates. Only 15 members are chosen for a minimum period of two-and-a-half years. The new group was appointed by President von der Leyen on 26 January.

Professor Mallia also represents Malta on the Committee for Bioethics of the Council of Europe and has been elected on its Bureau for the past four years. He is Professor of Family Medicine and Patients’ Rights within the Faculty of Medicine & Surgery and teaches Bioethics and Ethics in Science and Technology in several faculties. He chairs the Bioethics Consultative Committee of the Ministry for Health and the Health Ethics Committee of the Department of Health.