Karmenu Vella
| Karmenu Vella | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| European Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries | |
|
Assumed office 1 November 2014 |
|
| President | Jean-Claude Juncker |
| Preceded by |
Janez Potočnik (Environment) Maria Damanaki (Maritime Affairs and Fisheries) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
19 June 1950 Żurrieq, Malta |
| Political party | Labour Party |
| Spouse(s) | Marianne Buhagiar |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater |
University of Malta Sheffield Hallam University |
| Website | Official website |
Karmenu Vella is a Maltese politician and current member of the European Commission, where he is in charge of Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. He was one of the longest serving Maltese Parliamentarian with the Malta Labour Party.
He was born on 19 June 1950, in Zurrieq and is the eldest of three children. Vella lived in Zurrieq for 33 years from 1950 till 1983. He now lives in Birzebbugia with his wife Marianne née’ Buhagiar [BA(Hons.)]. The couple has two sons, John married to Miriam Dalli (M.E.P), and Philip married to Rania née’ Mamo. He is also a grandfather of two, Adam and Jack.
After his primary education in Zurrieq and his secondary education at the Lyceum Secondary School, he attended his pre-tertiary education at the University of Malta's Junior College till 1968. He attended the Royal University of Malta where he was conferred with a Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Studies in 1970, and then graduated as an Architect and Civil Engineer in 1973. Between 1998 and 2000 he studied at Sheffield Hallam University where he was awarded a Master of Science degree in Tourism.
Karmenu Vella has had a long and distinguished service in the Labour Party (Malta). He started with the Labour Party in 1968 as a member of the National Executive Committee of the Labour Youth Movement and later a member of the International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY). More recently, apart from being a member on the Labour Party's National Executive, Karmenu Vella held the post of Member and Group Co-ordinator for the Labour Party Parliamentary Group. In 2011 he was in charge of the electoral programme for the Maltese Labour Party for the 2013 general elections.
In 1968, at the age of 18, he was elected as the youngest member of the Zurrieq Civic Council until 1970. In 1976 he contested the general elections for the first time and was elected as the youngest Member of Parliament and since then he has continued serving as a Maltese Parliamentarian for thirty eight uninterrupted years as a Labour Member of Parliament. During his Parliamentary term in government, Vella has been nominated Minister for four times during the Labour Party Government. He was Minister for Public Works between 1981 and 1984, Minister for Industry from 1984 till 1987, Minister for Tourism between 1996 and 1998 and was again appointed as Tourism Minister in March 2013 until his nomination as EU Commissioner Designate in 2014. During his Parliamentary term in opposition, he served both as Shadow Minister for Tourism as well as Shadow Minister for Finance.
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Wikipedia