Outline

Joseph Cuschieri was born in Attard (Malta) on 20 February 1968.

Joseph Cuschieri is a Maltese politician who has been a Member of the European Parliament from 2011 to 2014. Previously he served in the House of Representatives of Malta from 1998 to 2008.

Before becoming a politician, he worked in tourism, journalism, and broadcasting.

He was also the personal reporter for then Leader of the Malta Labour Party and Prime Minister, Dr Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici.

Joseph Cuschieri is a lifetime member of the National Executive of the Malta Labour Party.

He loves and is active in philanthropy, sports, and the social, religious, and cultural sectors.

Councillor and Vice Mayor

In 1994, he was elected as first Deputy Mayor of St Julian’s as independent candidates. In the second local council elections in 1996, he was re-elected with the largest numbers of votes among all candidates.

Member of the Maltese Parliament

Joseph Cuschieri was elected as a Member of Parliament for three consecutive terms commencing 1998. He garnered a greater share of the vote in 2003 and then in 2008.

From 1998 to 2003 he served as spokesperson for Local Councils. From 2003 to 2008, he served as spokesperson for Tourism, Air Malta, and the hotel industry. He was also appointed spokesperson for the Infrastructure and Capital Projects.

During his ten-year parliamentary career Cuschieri served on delegations to the United Kingdom, Tunisia, Australia, South Korea, Germany, Palestine, Israel, and Jordan, among others.

On 29 September 2008, Joseph Cuschieri ceded his parliamentary seat to newly elected Labour leader Dr Joseph Muscat, who at that time was not a Maltese member of Parliament. Thus, he made it possible for the new Labour Leader to carry out his duties as Leader of the Opposition in Parliament on behalf of the Malta Labour Party. Dr Joseph Muscat has been Prime Minister of Malta from 2013 to 2020.

Member of the European Parliament

Joseph Cuschieri has contested the 2009 European Parliament Elections and has garnered the 4th largest numbers of first count votes among all candidates. He was designated as an MEP with effect from 1 December 2011 for the remainder of the 2009-2014 European Parliament parliamentary term.

In the European Parliament, Joseph Cuschieri was a member of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament and the Head of Delegation of the S&D Maltese members.

In the European Parliament, Joseph Cuschieri served as a member of the Committee on Transport and Tourism and a substitute member of the Committee on Regional Development. He was also a member on the Delegation for relations with the Arab Peninsula and the Delegation for relations with South Africa.

Diplomatic Career

On 21 January 2016, Joseph Cuschieri was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Malta to the Hellenic Republic. He presented his Letters of Credence to His Excellency Prokopios Pavlopoulos, President of the Hellenic Republic.

On 29 November 2016, Joseph Cuschieri presented his Letters of Credence to His Excellency Nicos Anastasiades, President of the Republic of Cyprus, accrediting him as High Commissioner of the Republic of Malta to Cyprus with residency in Athens.

He also served as Ambassador-designate of Malta to Italy from January to May 2020.

On 23 October 2020, Joseph Cuschieri presented his Letters of Credence to Her Excellency Katerina N. Sakellaropoulou, President of the Hellenic Republic, accrediting him as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Malta to the Hellenic Republic.