Aaron Michael Farrugia (born January 1, 1980) is a Maltese Partit Laburista (Labour Party) politician. He is the Secretary of the Labour Party`s election manifesto committee and member of the National Executive Committee.

Education

Farrugia started his studies in 1998 at the University of Malta`s Faculty of Economics, Management & Accountancy and graduated in November 2002 with an Honours Degree in Finance (thesis title: Foreign Direct Investment in Malta – A Review of Measures of Attraction and Problems in Implementation). He then continued his studies at the University of Malta`s Institute for European Studies and subsequently graduated with a Master of Arts in EU Studies in December 2005(Thesis title:Welfare Policy Reforms in Contemporary Europe: The Ideological Shift in the European Social Democrat Parties). In November 2010, Aaron Farrugia graduated in Law (L.L.B.) and obtained a Diploma Notary Public a year later from the University of Malta`s Faculty of Laws.

Political Biography

Aaron joined the Labour Party`s Ta` Xbiex Local Committee at the age of sixteen. He later on served in the Labour Party as Vice President (2001) and later on as President of the Labour Youth Forum ([Forum Zghazagh Laburisti]) between 2002–2004 and 2006-2008. He was elected Deputy Mayor of Ta` Xbiex Local Council between 2005 and 2008 to hold public office for the first time. In August 2008 he was elected in the Labour Party`s Central Administration as the party`s Education Secretary. Between 2009 and 2011 while still serving in the central administration of the Labour Party, Aaron was appointed Chairman of Fondazzjoni IDEAT, Malta’s progressive think-tank. On the 12th of January 2012, Aaron was appointed by the Leader of the Labour Party, Dr. Joseph Muscat. as Secretary of the Labour Party`s election manifesto commitee. He served and still serve in the Labour Party`s National Executive Committee since 2002.

During his student days (1998 and 2002)Aaron was a member and Secretary General of Pulse, a social democrat student organisation and Financial Secretary of the Maltese National Youth Council between 2004 and 2005.

Following the general election in 2003 he was nominated by the National Executive Committee to a working group on the Labour Party’s foreign policy vis-a-vis the European Union. This working group produced the document Il-Partit Laburista u l-Unjoni Ewropeja: Għall-Ġid tal-Maltin u l-Għawdxin (‘The Labour Party and the European Union for the benefit of the Maltese’) which was adopted by the Labour Party Extraordinary General Conference in November of that year.

In 2008, Farrugia was appointed to a team of economic experts by the Young European Socialists (ECOSY) during the financial crisis. He is a political commentator, political campaign consultant and writes various political articles on a regular basis for national newspapers and political magazines.

Professional career

Aaron Farrugia works as a policy advisor and coordinator for the Maltese Delegation in the Committee of the Regions, the political assembly that provides the regional and local levels with a voice in EU policy development and EU legislation. Aaron’s role is to ensure that the Maltese COR members are briefed on all opinions and Communications from the COR, the European Parliament and the Commission. He liaises with Malta’s Permanent Representation and technical attaches in Brussels and coordinates with the six COR commissions, political parties and national delegation coordinators of the other Member States. He attends all the plenary meetings, National Delegation Coordinators’ meetings and the COR commissions` meetings in Brussels. He previously managed the European Union Funds at the Ministry for Health and Social Policy and worked as a statistician at Malta` National Statistics Office (NSO) between 2002 and 2006

Achievements

On the 11th of June 2010, Aaron Farrugia was given “Ġieħ Ta` Xbiex”, the local Order of Merit, an honour conferred to those who demonstrated “exceptional merit in the service of the town of Ta` Xbiex”. Ġieħ Ta Xbiex is a public tribute to those who distinguish themselves and whose achievements enrich the well-being of the city.

In June 2011 Aaron was nominated by Germany’s Ambassador to Malta, H.E. Mr. Bernd Braun to attend a transatlantic conference in Pristina Kosovo initiated by Atlantik-Bruecke and the German Foreign Office. Since then, Aaron Farrugia became an Atlantic Forum Young Leader Alumnus.

Personal life

Aaron Farrugia is married to Charmaine Farrugia (née Micallef), whom he wed in July 2010. They met in 2000 and live in Naxxar. Farrugia is a Roman Catholic.