Eddie Fenech Adami was still Malta’s premier when my path crossed Simon Busuttil’s for the first time. Since then, almost uninterruptedly, I have had the privilege of his colleagueship, his counsel and his company – not to mention his leadership.

As he has now moved on from the secretariat general of the EPP Group, I cannot but look back with praise and admiration of a gentleman.

The campaign leading up to the referendum on acceding to the European Union was the start of my working relationship with him. He had applied himself exceptionally at the helm of the Malta-EU

Information Centre, better known as the MIC. Simon’s role was to give objective information on the European Union and the consequences of adopting the acquis communautaire. The Herculean task meant answering sweeping questions on the impact on business, on the rights of families and workers, on the future of governance.

There was one question it was not his job to answer: whether to join the European Union or not. That duty was mine, as a founding member and, subsequently, secretary general of Moviment Iva (Yes Movement).

The objective information that Simon helped communicate was the basis for our arguing that Malta’s place was in the European Union.

For me, the referendum result remains my greatest satisfaction, even to this day.

From that happy moment onward, with Lawrence Gonzi succeeding Eddie, Simon and I became the Partit Nazzjonalista’s first two members of the European Parliament. Those were crucial first years, when Malta had to assert itself and find its place in the highly dynamic Union. He was not only my colleague but I looked to him for leadership as head of delegation.

We became close, a relationship that scarcely wavered when he became deputy leader of the party.

And when he was elected PN leader, he vacated his seat after almost a decade of service in the EP. It would be the first time I would work in Brussels without Simon. Replacing him was Roberta Metsola, the young, effective politician whose meteoric rise cemented her place in the history books.

Few can pass through what Simon has been through with their head held high- David Casa

With Simon as opposition leader, I spent more and more time in Malta. The 2017 election was difficult but not as difficult as the aftermath. Nothing could have prepared us for the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

We knew her work exposed her to threats but that they were realised crossed a line that plunged the country into crisis.

Simon, Roberta and I had the shock of our lives. It remains among the hardest moments I have experienced and not a day passes that I forget it. It marked the start of an intense fight for justice that we will refuse to tone down until full justice is achieved for  Caruana Galizia.

That was a fight that Simon continued when he became secretary general of the EPP Group in the European Parliament. I was elated at the chance to work alongside him once again and he performed exceptionally.

Answering to him was the staff of the largest political grouping in Brussels. He has had the resolve, the clarity of mind and an unwavering and principled approach to the fulfilment of his duties.

Simon occupied this key role at the same time as I was in the Bureau of the European Parliament as a quaestor and when Roberta was first vice-president and, later, president of the parliament. It was a chapter marred by challenges and global crises. I do not only consider myself fortunate but I think the entire EPP Group is thankful for what Simon brought to the table.

Few can pass through what Simon has been through with their head held high. Fewer still will seek to contribute to our democracy with the same fervour as when they hazarded to make their first contribution to society.

As Simon’s term as EPP Group secretary general comes to an end, I know that I will still find him close by, not necessarily as a colleague, but certainly, above all else, as a friend.

Whatever his future holds, I scarcely need wish him well other than to express my confidence in his abilities and qualities to do himself, and us, proud.

David Casa is a Nationalist Party MEP.

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