Maltese MEP Roberta Metsola has been ranked as the most influential MEP in the last five years, according to an analysis by the European agency EU Matrix, which evaluates MEPs' performance on a number of criteria.
This analysis measures the influence that Members of the European Parliament exerted over EU policy since the beginning of the current parliamentary term in July 2019.
It is based on the collection of data by a team, that EU Matrix says has over 15 years of experience in measuring the political dimension of EU policy-making. When weighing the criteria, the agency consulted with a wide range of EU practitioners.
Metsola scored first for her role as EP President and key legislator in strengthening democracy, media freedom and pluralism in the EU.
EPP chair Manfred Weber - head of the biggest political group in the Parliament - placed second followed by S&D chair Iratxe García Pérez, EP First Vice-Chair Othmar Karas, Renew chair Valérie Hayer, an influential legislator on EU Resources and EP Vice-President Dita Charanzová, member of Renew Bureau and key legislator on internal market issues.
The German delegation was chosen as the most influential overall and also one of the best performing proportionally to its size.
Conversely, the Italians, and, to a lesser extent, the French have been underperforming regardless of the size of their delegations, according to the analysis.
From among the small countries, the Luxembourgers, the Maltese, and the Portuguese punch above their weight the most, while Hungarians, Cypriots and Italians are the most underperforming national groups.
The EPP is the most influential group when taken as a whole, while Renew members tend to perform better proportionally, especially due to their legislative activities and voting performance.
When it comes to leadership positions, Renew and S&D are in the pole position, just ahead of the EPP.
S&D and EPP members still have an edge when it comes to their network also due to the bigger seniority of their MEPs.
In a statement, the Nationalist Party welcomed the findings: “This is a highly commendable certification for the MEP of the Nationalist Party, who has been leading the European Parliament for the past two years".
Meanwhile, the PN noted how its other MEP, David Casa, ranked among the top 20 MEPs in the field of social policy.
“This ranking complements the fact that despite Malta being the smallest EU Member State, its MEPs achieve much higher results than those from other countries,” the PN said.
The leader of the Nationalist Party, Bernard Grech, congratulated Metsola and Casa, saying the ranking confirmed the PN's effective work at every level.