John Dalli, the Maltese Commissioner designate for Health and Consumer Policy, has been involved in politics for quite some time. For one thing, he has served as a minister of the Maltese Government for almost two decades. In the past he has been responsible for the Maltese economy, for finance and for foreign affairs and is currently the social policy minister. Before entering politics, the 61-year old has worked as an accountant in the private sector in Malta and abroad. He holds an accountancy degree from the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) and is a member of the Nationalist Party (PN). He replaces the Cypriot Androulla Vassiliou, who is set to become the Commissioner for Education and Culture.

In his mission letter, Jose Manuel Barroso asked Dalli “to continue to ensure the safety of our food chain, safeguarding the EU against animal disease”. Dalli will be responsible for the pharmaceutical portfolio (previously this was a responsibility of directorate-general enterprise and industry) and for the coordination of the member states reactions to human and animal pandemics, such as for instance the reaction to the new H1N1 Influenza.

The consumer rights directive, whose aim is to reinforce the rights of consumers when they shop abroad, will also be the responsibility of the new Maltese Commissioner. According to Dalli: “My priorities in the area of consumer policy would be to keep the consumer at the heart of the functioning of the internal market. Primarily, I will continue to expand information to the consumer so as to empower them to make informed choices.”

In his answers to questions from the European Parliament, he has indicated that his first priority would be “to complete the food chain strategy and to push for better regulation in our highly regulated internal market for animals, plants, seeds, food and feed, in order to boost the European agro-industry and to stimulate innovation while respecting the health and interests of consumers and the environment”. “The development of effective and efficient health care systems in all member states” is also one of Dalli’s main priorities, in particular the “integration of the pharmaceutical area into public health”.