European Parliament member to speak March 22

European Parliament Member for Malta Roberta Metsola will speak on “Politics in the Age of Populism” Thursday, March 22 at 7 p.m. in Furman University’s Younts Conference Center.

Her talk, which is free and open to the public, is presented by Furman University’s Riley Institute and Department of Politics and International Affairs. Registration is not required.

Metsola, who is on the Furman campus as a Fellow-in-Residence, was elected to the European Parliament in 2013 as one of Malta’s first female members. She was re-elected on the European People’s Party (EPP) ticket with a record number of votes for a female candidate in 2014.

Metsola is a member of the European’s Parliament’s Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee where she is coordinator for the EPP Group. The Committee, which is one of the largest legislative bodies in Parliament, deals with issues such as immigration, security and border controls, privacy, anti-discrimination and fundamental rights A leading voice on the European migration crisis, Metsola is a co-author of the European Parliament’s report on “The Situation in the Mediterranean and the Need for a Holistic European Union Approach to Migration.” She is also a Member of the Terrorism Committee and the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with the United States.

Metsola is a lawyer who has specialized in European law and politics. She served within the Permanent Representation of Malta to the European Union from 2004-2012 as Malta’s Legal and Judicial Cooperation Attaché and Head of the Justice and Home Affairs Unit. Following that, she served as legal advisor for the team of Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. She left that role to fill the vacant seat of current Opposition Leader in Malta, Simon Busuttil, as an MEP within the EPP Group.

As a student, Metsola was highly active in various organizations, acting as the Secretary-General for the European Democrat Student organization between 2002 and 2003. She graduated from the University of Malta and the College of Europe in Bruges.

For more information, visit the Riley Institute’s website, or contact the Riley Institute at 864-294-3546. Or contact the Furman News and Media Relations office at 864-294-3107.