Malta nominates Helena Dalli as its next commissioner

Malta will nominate Minister for EU Affairs and Equality Helena Dalli as its candidate for the next European Commission, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat announced Wednesday.

The Maltese leader wrote on Twitter that he made the decision “after discussing profiles of 2 highly qualified individuals” with Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen “within context of competence and gender balance.”

Von der Leyen has said she would like to see a Commission made up of an equal number of men and women, but some governments have not heeded her call and nominated only a male candidate.

First elected to the Maltese Parliament in 1996, Dalli is a member of the Malta Labour Party, part of the Party of European Socialists.

Speaking at POLITICO’s Women Rule Summit last month, Dalli said she wanted the bloc’s leaders to take more active measures to promote gender equality in the EU, including in political representation at the highest level.

“In Parliament, there is a very good move for parity, but I am sorry to say not in the Commission,” she said.