Aaron Farrugia is a MaltesePartit Laburista politician and the Minister for the Environment, Climate Change & Planning in Prime Minister Robert Abela’s cabinet in early 2020, and served as Parliamentary Secretary for European Funds and Social Dialogue in former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s cabinet. He was elected as a member of the Parliament of Malta in June 2017, is a member of the Cabinet of the Government of Malta, member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and Head of the Maltese Delegation in the Parliamentary Assembly for the Mediterranean. As an economist, Farrugia worked as an Advisor to the Maltese Delegation in the Committee of the Regions and later on as the Chief Executive Officer of the Malta Freeport Corporation Farrugia served in a number of positions in the Labour Party, mainly as an elected member of the Administrative Council and National Executive Committee of the Malta Labour Party and founder of the Labour Party think-tank Fondazzjoni IDEAT.
Biography
Studies and personal life
Farrugia obtained a B.A. with Honours in Finance at the University of Malta in 2002 and a M.A. in European Politics, Economics and Law at the same university in 2005. He then read for a Doctorate of Laws degree and graduated in 2017 with a dotoral thesis on direct democracy. Aaron Farrugia is a visiting lecturer at the Faculty of Economics, Management and Accountancy of the University of Malta. He teaches Politics, Political Campaigning, Policies and Governance. Aaron Farrugia is married since 2010 to Charmaine Farrugia. They have two daughters, Petra, born in 2012 and Angelica, born in 2018.
Political career
During his student days Farrugia was a member and Secretary General of Pulse, a social democrat student organisation from 1998 to 2002, and later Financial Secretary of the Maltese National Youth Council between 2004 and 2005. Farrugia then joined the Labour Party and served as Vice President and then as President of the Labour Youth Forum between 2002–2004 and 2006–2008. In 2005 Farrugia was elected as deputy mayor of the Ta’ Xbiex Local Council. Farrugia assisted Joseph Muscat's Labour Party leadership bid in 2008. He was then elected as education secretary in the new Labour Party executive, and coordinated the compilation of the 2013 party manifesto, besides founding and chairing the party think tank, Fondazzjoni Ideat, between 2009 and 2011. At the 2017 Maltese general election Farrugia was elected to Parliament from the 1st electoral district where he obtained 3,600 first count votes. Farrugia was immediately appointed Junior Minister for European Funds and Social Dialogue by the Maltese Prime Minister. Internationally linked, he is a member of the Cabinet of Ministers. Farrugia is currently serving as Minister for the Environment, Climate Change & Planning in Prime Minister Robert Abela’s cabinet. Farrugia expressed support for a change towards a first past the post system, a separate list to increase the number of women in Parliament, and for higher salaries for Members of Parliament.
Memberships
Farrugia is an Atlantic Forum Young Leader Alumnus and U.S. International Visitor Leadership Program's alumnus ; on the occasion, he spent four weeks with the 2012 Obama campaign. Farrugia is also a member of the Malta-United States Alumni Association. Friends of Europe listed him among the 40under40 European Young Leaders in 2017.
