Marlene Mizzi (born 24 December 1954,

Rabat, Malta Rabat ( mt, Ir-Rabat, ) is a town in the Northern Region of Malta, with a population of 11,497 as of March 2014. It adjoins the ancient capital city of Mdina, and a north-western area formed part of the Roman city of Melite until its medieva ...

) is a

Maltese Maltese may refer to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta * Maltese alphabet * Maltese cuisine * Maltese culture * Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people * Maltese people, people from Malta or of Malte ...

politician and former

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

. She currently serves as the Maltese ambassador to Sweden and Norway. She was a member of the Labour Party and sat within the

Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) is the political group in the European Parliament of the Party of European Socialists (PES). The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats was officially founded as a Socialist ...

in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

. She served as an MEP between 2013 and 2019.

Background

The daughter of John Cacciottolo and Josephine Micallef, she is married to Judge Emeritus and current

Commissioner of Laws The Commissioner of Laws (also Commissioner of Law and Commissioner for Laws) is an office in Malta that was established by the 1980 Revisions of Statutory Laws Act. The first commissioner was Franco Debono, whose appointment was widely publici ...

Antonio Mizzi. They have one daughter, Alexandra, who is a lawyer. Mizzi graduated with an

honours degree Honours degree has various meanings in the context of different degrees and education systems. Most commonly it refers to a variant of the undergraduate bachelor's degree containing a larger volume of material or a higher standard of study, or ...

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

in 1976, continuing her studies at the

Maastricht School of Management The Maastricht School of Management (MSM) is a management school in Maastricht, the Netherlands. From 1 September 2022 MSM is part of the School of Business and Economics (SBE) of Maastricht University. MSM's activities in the fields of education ...

, where she read for a

Master of Philosophy The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil m ...

degree, specialising in

corporate governance Corporate governance is defined, described or delineated in diverse ways, depending on the writer's purpose. Writers focused on a disciplinary interest or context (such as accounting, finance, law, or management) often adopt narrow definitions th ...

. From 1997 to 2005 she served as Chairman of

Sea Malta Sea Malta Company Limited (1973-2006) was the Maltese national shipping company. Established on 10 November 1973 during the tenure of the Labour Government led by Dominic Mintoff, which had the majority of the shares in the new company. The que ...

Co Ltd., Malta's national shipping line. Marlene Mizzi was a member of Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialist and Democrats, a Vice-President of the Petitions Committee, a Member of the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee and substitute member of the Culture, Education and Sports Committee. In 2016-2017 Marlene Mizzi was an Ambassador for the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs Programme.

Political career

On April 24, 2013, Mizzi was elected as Malta's first woman

, in a casula election, replacing

Edward Scicluna Edward Scicluna (born October 12, 1946 in Rabat, Malta) is a Maltese economist and politician. Scicluna assumed the position of Governor of the Central Bank of Malta as from 1st January 2021 for a five-year term. Biography Education and priv ...

. During her first year in parliament, she served as vice-chairwoman of the

Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) is a committee of the European Parliament which is responsible for the regulation of financial services, the free movement of capital and payments, taxation and competition policies, oversight ...

, under the leadership of chairwoman

Sharon Bowles Sharon Margaret Bowles, Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted (born 12 June 1953 in Oxford) is a Liberal Democrats (UK), Liberal Democrat politician. She was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the South East England (European Parliament co ...

. Following the

2014 European elections Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unrel ...

, Mizzi became vice-chairwoman of the

Committee on Petitions The Committee on Petitions (PETI) is a permanent committee of the European Parliament to offer a petition process including a web portal to create and admit petitions. Its current chair, elected on 10 July 2019, is Dolors Montserrat, member of the ...

and a member of the

Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection The Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) is a committee of the European Parliament. Work of the committee The committee is responsible for: * coordination at Community level of national legislation in the sphere of th ...

. In 2016, she was named the parliament’s rapporteur on standardization. Mizzi is a strong proponent of

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

. In 2016 she hosted a women's rights discussion at American Embassy in Malta. She hosted a conference on female entrepreneurship in the European Parliament in Brussels. The goal of the conference was to promote inclusive female entrepreneurship and provide a better entrepreneurial environment for women. In addition to her committee assignments, Mizzi served as a member of the parliament’s delegation to the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) is an international organization established in 2005 by the national parliaments of the countries of the Euro-Mediterranean region. It is the legal successor of the Conference on Security and ...

since 2013. She was also a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals. Mizzi did not seek re-election to the Parliament in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

. In 2020, she was appointed Maltese Ambassador to the Kingdom of Sweden and Norway, and presented her credentials to representatives of the respective monarchs.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mizzi, Marlene Living people 1954 births MEPs for Malta 2014–2019 Labour Party (Malta) MEPs Women MEPs for Malta 21st-century Maltese women politicians 21st-century Maltese politicians People from Rabat, Malta 20th-century Maltese businesspeople